Det Er Bare Oss Og De Døde
by Jayme F. Midorikawa
Summary: The HOTD gang is joined by a group of unusual foreigners this time around. Can they all band together and survive the plague of the undead? Or will they perish by the evil of living humans instead? R&R Rating may go up later on. TakeshixReixOC
1. Chapter 1

**Det Er Bare Oss Og De Døde**

**Hello everyone. As I have said so many times before, I'm sorry for having not updated any of my recent stories for so long, but life just keeps getting more and more complicated, and I end up losing potential ideas, so instead, I bring you something new. Now, ever since I saw the first episode of the anime, and read the first chapter of the manga, I fucking LOVE Highschool of the Dead. I've loved zombie movies my entire life. At the same time, I've also become strangely enamored with Scandinavia thanks to a webcomic entitled Scandinavia And The World by someone pennamed Humon. So, I figured I might as well do something that combines HOTD and some Scandinavian characters of mine. I'll provide translations at the end of every chapter for when foreign languages are used, and they will be. I do not own HOTD, just my characters. Oh, and for future reference, every chapter title will be in the following languages in that order: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Finnish. Anyway, enjoy.**

_Kapittel ett: I Begynnelsen Til Slutten _(1)

**Hallo.**It's been quite a while since I've had an opportunity to tell anyone the story of how we came to be where we are now. In fact, it's been so long, I'm rather at a loss of where to begin. I guess I'll start with telling you who I am. My name is Bjarte Mortensen. I am, or rather I was an exchange student from Oslo, Norway who was shipped off to a high school in Tokyo, Japan as part of a foreign studies program. Now, I'm just another person trying desperately to survive. This exchange, it was originally supposed to be just myself, but when word had gotten out that I was going abroad, some of my best friends used some money they had been saving for themselves, to come and move with me. In fact, it had been enough for us to officially rent our own apartment, so for lack of a better word, I suppose you could say we had just moved to Japan.

Now, whereas my reason for going had been for school, my friends' reasons were much more...personal. My friend from Denmark, Ditlev Petersen, had gone because for as long as I had known him, he had been obsessed with those bizarre cartoons Japan kept bringing out by the truckloads. I believe he told me they were called anime, or something along those lines. Ditlev had always been one of the most laid back and collected persons I've known. I suppose one would think we were brothers by how close we were.

My friend from Sweden, Fritjof Halvorsen, had always been one for meddling with computers. Nowadays, the Swedish have been known for being the most technologically advanced out of the rest of the Scandinavian people, but he loved computers, and tinkering with them so much, that when he had heard I was to go to Japan, another one of the most technologically developed nations on the planet, he was actually the very first one to suggest they all tag along with me. For as long as I've known him, Fritjof has had a tendency to come across as high strung and not very outgoing, and sometimes, even just flat out weak, but there have been times when I've seen him get pushed, and I can honestly say I wouldn't want to get on his bad side.

Now my friend from Finland, he is a bit harder to figure out. Alpi Jukarainen, has probably got to be one of the hardest people I've ever gotten to know. To call him antisocial would be quite the understatement. He rarely ever talks to people he doesn't know, and he just flat out never speaks to people he dislikes. However, in all the years I've known him, he's proven to be a very good judge of character, so it in turn acts as a great way of telling if someone is good news or not. He has always had a penchant for firearms. I personally believe it may be because he's a descendant of the legendary Simo Häyhä, one of the best snipers in modern history. He once told us that he actually had the very same Mosin Nagant rifle that Simo Häyhä used back in WWII, but as he'd never shown us, none of us believed him. According to him, he had come with us to Japan, simply because it would be too boring without us around, and that he had nothing better to do. Left it at that completely.

They may have come with me with some of their own personal reasons in mind, but they always did what they could to support me during my time there, and I always did what I could to help them as well. After my very first day in my new school, I had even shown them the quickest way to get there in case they ever needed to contact me personally and couldn't reach me by my cellphone. Fritjof had even taken the precautions to write the directions himself afterwards.

Well, that's all my most personal friends in a nutshell I suppose. I could go into detail of the others I have made since all...this, happened, but I would just be wasting my breath. They'll come into it soon enough. So, how could I possibly be able to describe the day it all happened? The day everything I thought I knew came to an end. It all feels so long ago now, even though it was really just so fairly recent. **Ikke godt**.(2)

Well, I guess I could just start with when I had left our apartment the morning it all happened. It was a typical morning for the likes of us. Ditlev was watching one of the many, many anime DVD's he had purchased at Akihabara just the previous week, and much like he spent every morning, he was high as a kite on his personal stash of pot. I suppose being a supposed "visiting" foreigner from a country that legalizes pot has its perks.

Fritjof had busied himself on his laptop, most likely writing a thesis he had told us he was making for the university he had been attending in Stockholm. Thankfully, being a very advanced nation with such a flexible educational system allowed students to continue studying from abroad. Despite having come here for the computers and further electronical wonders Japan had to behold, Fritjof always did say school was one of the most important things.

Alpi was simply watching the TV with Ditlev while eating out of some leftover takeout from the previous night. I don't know if Alpi even liked anime remotely as much as Ditlev did, but I knew he would've preferred over listening to Fritjof's constant computer talk. The two of them never really saw things eye to eye that much.

I had been on my way out the door to Fujimi High, the local high school in the small Tokyo-based city we were settled in, Tokonosu, when I remembered what to tell my friends. **"****Ok gutta, jeg er gå på skole. Fritjof, ikke la Detliv gå ut i dag. Hvis han saker en like og politiet finne ut han har potten med ham, vi vil alle være i stor trengsel, ok?"** (3)

"**Ok, Bjarte. Låt inte hela utlänning student tryckbärande komma till dig."** (4) Fritjof had answered as I went out the door. He always was the most responsible out of all of us, so I knew I could trust him to keep an eye on Detliv and Alpi for the day. The only worry I had in regards for Alpi was that he and Fritjof would get into another one of their petty fights. Looking back on those good old days back home, I actually miss the fights they used to have.

In case you're wondering, what Fritjof had meant was that for the last couple months that I had been going to Fujimi High, I had earned something of a reputation amongst the faculty and the student body for not only being a foreigner, but also such an exotic one. People like Americans, Englishmen, and even Germans were sort of common foreigners in Japan, but people like us, Scandinavians, were quite a rare sight. I spoke the Japanese language almost perfectly, as I would have to in order to function properly here, but it didn't really help me socially. I admit, it would be a bit much, asking Japanese people to stop treating me like such an exotic foreigner, but still, I don't like to be made a showcase by people, as I'm sure nobody would.

I had been able to get on good grounds with a couple students here and there, people who didn't ask me stereotypical questions that were reserved for foreigners of my type, like most people would. And thankfully, I had been able to get on said good terms through shared interests. To be honest, I had always been interested in international forms of melee combat, from graceful fencing, to the good old fashioned viking-style swordplay of me and my friends' ancestors, and even to something as unusual as staff or spear fighting. Something that always amazed me about Japanese schools, was the sheer number and variety presented in the kind of clubs they could have, so when I found out there was not only a bokken training club, but also a Spear Martial Arts Club, I have to say, I was thrilled. I was only really able to sign up for one when I had started out in that school, so I decided to try the Spear Martial Arts club.

I'll admit, it was pretty tough at first, but I was actually a pretty fast learner, which really amazed all the other members that a foreigner like me could catch onto a dominantly Eastern form of self-defense so quickly. I had been able to make a friend or two through that, mainly a girl around, or possibly a little under my age named Rei Miyamoto. According to all the other members, she was one of the most experienced members of the club, and so the fact that she said I wasn't half bad, I'll admit, felt pretty good.

Through her, I ended up befriending another student, this time a boy named Takeshi Komuro, who was definitely closer to my age than Rei. At first glance, most would think he was a good-for-nothing street punk, but in all honesty, he was a pretty decent guy when I first met him. Neither of them treated me like some marvel because of my nationality and constantly ask me stupid questions about it, they actually treated me like a regular person, which I was really grateful for in the months to come.

In the process, I also ended up meeting Rei's boyfriend of all people, Hisashi. I don't really recall his last name, sadly. He seemed to be a pretty decent guy too, and was actually one of Takeshi's best friends, although I always had a gut feeling whenever the three were all together that Takeshi was...jealous, for lack of a better word.

Anyway, I'll get back to the point. Everything was pretty much normal when I had gotten to the school, paid no mind to any students whispering to each other about me and made my way to my class. Eventually class started and everything went like it normally would, a teacher teaching, and students learning, plain and simple. At least, it was until the school loudspeaker came on unexpectedly. The words the announcer said still echo in my head among other terrible things.

"Attention, all students. A fight has broken out on campus. Please follow your instructors and evacuate from the school. I repeat, a fight has broken out on campus. Please follow your instructors and..." and before the voice was able to continue, there was the sound of what I could only describe as a struggle, followed by the loud pitch of a knocked over microphone. There was several moments of a deathlike silence, and then came sounds I'll never forget.

"Help me! Stop! Help! No! No! Help! No! No, n-AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" and then, all sound just stopped. I still hear that bloodcurdling scream every night, it chills me just to think back to it. The silence that filled my classroom, and perhaps the entire school was frighteningly still. It almost felt like a form of shellshock, and I could tell all my classmates were just as terrified at that moment as I was. It felt like the silence lasted forever, but in what was only a few moments, all that unsettling silence erupted into a chorus of terrified screams from everyone around me.

Everything had just spun into a storm of confusion, I had no idea what to do or where to go. All my classmates had practically jumped from their desks, crowding the doors in an attempt to flee the school, and before I even realized it, I had been sucked into the crowd and was soon in the hallways. The halls were practically flooded with students from all the classes, making a panicked rush for the stairs. I kept trying to get my bearings straight so that I could get my feet on the ground and think of what to do, but before I knew it, the ground was getting bumpy and people were tripping all around me, and one unlucky glance down showed it all to me. Everyone was in such a rush, that they were literally trampling anyone unlucky enough to have fallen, and I could swear that already some of them were dead.

By the time the wave of people had reached the stairs, I was at last able to break free, and grabbed onto the guard handles for safety as I looked at this mob of terrified kids running for the exits. In that instant, I could hear the sounds of fists and people yelling in pain and falling. All kinds of people were shouting for others to get out of their way, even beating each others faces in, and kicking girls down the stairs in an attempt to get out faster. On several instances, I swear I could hear the snapping of necks as these terrified kids tumbled down the stairs under the feet of their friends.

It wasn't long until the massive crowds had dissipated enough for me to make my way down the stairs on my own. I could still hear a wall of screams permeating the almost empty halls as I made my way for the entrance to the school. Once I had reached the bottom, I could only see a few handfuls of my fellow students running through the halls, some of them covered in what I feared was blood. I quickly noticed a floorplan for the bottom floor of the school up on the wall. I was so confused at this moment, I couldn't even remember where the entrance was. Once I had found the entrance on the map, I turned on my feet to make my way, but I suddenly saw one solitary figure walking through the hall that stood between me and the exit.

The sun had been bright this morning, and the blinding light had been shining through the glass doors, preventing me from being able to make out the details, but I could tell it was one of the teachers based on the height and physical build. I breathed a relieved sigh for the first time in what felt like hours as I quickly made my way towards the teacher. "Sensei, oh thank god you're here! What the hell's going on?" I asked in desperation as I soon came to a stop. I was then able to make out some of the details. I had seen this teacher a few times before since I had first come here. She was tall and had red hair done up in a ponytail and had what I could only describe as librarian glasses, and I'll never forget that face for as long as I'll live. Something was wrong, I could feel it. She wasn't answering me, and when she came into the light, I could feel my heart stop.

Her skin was a sickly gray, her white dress shirt was almost completely red with blood, and there was a large gaping hole in her throat, looking like she had been horrifically mauled by some vicious animal. Her eyes were rolled into the back of her head, a ghastly white, and the only sound she made was an empty wheezing kind of moan emanating from her mutilated throat.

I wanted to just turn on my heels and run for anywhere that would get me far away from her, as far away as possible, but I couldn't feel my legs, they were practically glued to the floor. My whole body was numb, and as much as I wanted to scream, I couldn't. I had gone completely stiff. I never even felt the push that came from behind me that brought me to the floor. The only thing that brought me back to my senses were the screams that followed. When I had come to, I was sprawled on the floor, and when I looked up, I saw that very same teacher from mere moments before, clutching another students ankle, and biting into his leg. I could feel my stomach twist in knots as I saw a large bleeding hole get torn into his leg, spilling a mess all over the once clean tile floors. I wanted to vomit right there, but something prevented me from doing so.

Without even thinking, the very first thing I did was crawl backwards, back towards the stairs, and once I got back onto my feet, grabbing the railing for dear life, all I could think of doing was running back upstairs, I didn't care where I went, just so long as it was away from there. My heart was pounding like mad at my chest as I got myself back to the top floor of the school, sprinting down the hallways I had just come from. I still couldn't believe what I had seen just moments before. The gaping wound that teacher had in her throat, no human could possibly survive something like that, and seeing her eating that students leg like a lion ate its prey in the wild, it felt so unreal. I remember, I kept thinking to myself, wishing as much as I could that this was just a terrible dream,just a really bad nightmare, but something in me kept telling me that this was real. I didn't even know what to think of it, or what to call it.

My chest began to burn as I came to a stop, resting against one of the walls, trying desperately to catch my breath. Things were happening so fast, I couldn't make any sense of it. I could hear a few lone sets of loud footsteps speed past me as straggling students were running down the halls, some of them limping, or clutching their arms, and I swear I could've seen more blood on them. I took a moment to see where I was, get my bearings straight once more. The sign on the wall said I was back at my original classroom. I don't know what I was thinking to look back inside through the windows, maybe it was the faint hope that somebody was still there who could help explain to me what the hell was going on, or maybe just the hope that somebody was there at all. What I do know, is that what was in there, was what finally made me lose it all over the floor.

The desks were all overturned, and there were several students who I assume had decided to stay behind, sprawled on the floor, with multiple students hunched over them. But I could see clearly through the windows. Those students were just like the teacher. Deathly pale eyes, sickly gray skin, and their hands were glistening red with blood. Practically the entire floor was a mess, and I could see body parts and what I could only conclude were...human organs in their teeth.

I heaved whatever I had eaten that morning the instant I finally realized what it was I was looking at. Not just what lay on the other side of that window, but rather, what was going on all over the school, all around me. I didn't want to believe it was real, but a part of me kept nagging at me to accept what it was, to accept the impossible. To be honest, even now, there's a very small part inside me that wants to believe this is all just some terrible nightmare, but I know the truth. Zombies. I was in the middle of an **Ærlig til gud**(5) case of zombies.

I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it, this was something you should only have been dealing with in movies or videogames, it wasn't meant for the real world, and yet here it was right in front of me. Dead people getting up and attacking and eating the living. I had the urge to just curl up into a ball against the wall, hoping this were just a dream, but something inside convinced me to do otherwise. I'm sure I wasn't really thinking on any line of reason in that very moment, but the idea had come to me that I needed to get something to defend myself. It was at the moment, that I felt to actually go outside, cause an idea had suddenly popped into my head.

Wasting no time, I was making my way down the hall, trying as hard as I could to avoid the individual...dead students that were wandering the now empty halls. I still get goosebumps just thinking of those poor victims in that light. I was soon down on the ground floor again and making my way down the East Main Hall, towards the running track for the PT classes. As I had made my way towards the open glass doors, there was a horrible smell heavy in the air that got worse and worse the further I got to the outside. The twisting feeling in the pit of my stomach pretty much told me what it was. Human blood, and it was so thick, so heavy, it made me nauseous just briefly smelling it just to breathe.

There was another smell mixed alongside it out there as well. At the time I didn't know what it was, despite how familiar it was to me. I didn't want to waste anymore time, so I just made a bolt through the door till I felt the outside air meet my face. What awaited me out there, made me just want to get back inside the school and stay there. I had thought what little I had seen on the inside was horrific enough, but out there was even worse. Almost all the students who made a run for the exits, it was like more and more of those...walking corpses were just waiting for them, and it had turned into an all out bloodbath. That once deafening wall of screams from all my schoolmates...had now been reduced to a few straggling screams of pain, rather than terror.

I could hear girls screaming about the pain, and I could hear boys begging for those monsters not to eat them. So many times I've woken up in the middle of the night with my heart racing to the sound of those pitiful screams that signaled their premature end. There was blood all over the ground, all over the grass and the sand and the dirt, dismembered body parts strewn about all over the place, it was worse than anything I could have ever imagined.

When I tried to look up to the clear blue skies, just to get my sight away from this horror at my feet, I finally realized what the second smell was. Smoke. The entire sky had gone completely dark with it. In the distance, I could make out the faint sounds of fire engine sirens, ambulances, police cars, windows crashing, people screaming, all around me. I couldn't stomach much more of this, as more and more terrible things kept presenting themselves to me. It wasn't just the school, the whole damn city was being attacked by...the walking dead. Even now, after I've seen so much of them every day, I still can't help but scoff at the idea of the dead walking, no matter how real it has become.

I still remember how hard the thought had hit me as if it were just a minute ago. My friends. They were still home, and completely defenseless. With that new resolve in mind, I immediately broke into the fastest sprint I had ever done in my life, ignoring the few surviving students running across the grounds to escape, and the numerous walking dead until I had finally reached it. The tool shed for the groundskeepers. I admit, I didn't know what I was going to find in there that would help me defend myself, but at that moment, I didn't care so long as I found something at all. The door was locked, and despite how hard I had kicked at the door, hoping to maybe bust it off its hinges, it didn't budge at all.

I was exhausted after several attempts, but a fateful glance solved my problems, and yet at the same time, made them worse. The groundskeeper was there in front of me, but the blood on his face told me everything. A large chunk was missing from his forearm and his neck, and that same empty groan came from his hanging open mouth. Thankfully, I almost instantly spotted the key ring that was hanging from a loop in his belt. I honestly had no idea how I would get those keys off of him while trying to avoid getting bitten, but I just went for it either way.

I had always been exceptionally fast when it came to self-defense, and since the dead were thankfully on the slow side, it didn't take much for me to get behind him and unhook the key ring from his belt. Once I had gotten the keys, I immediately noticed more of...Them, starting to approach me. Didn't take much for me to realize they had not only seen me, but also heard me kicking at the door, but this wasn't the time to beat myself up for it. I immediately kicked the groundskeeper in the chest, sending him onto his back, just to buy myself the smallest amount of time, as I quickly started testing the keys on the lock. First one didn't work, and neither did the second, the third or the fourth, but luckily the very last one did, and I found myself inside.

I honestly couldn't help but smile when I got my hands on the first thing I saw. There was actually a machete lying sheathed on a work bench. I figured the groundskeeper needed it for when the cherry blossom tree branches got too long, but that didn't matter to me. I needed it more than he did now. Grabbing the handle, I turned to find a small group of Them crowding at the open door, and so, in a moment of pure terror, I did the very first thing that came to mind, what I could only describe as a bum rush, I just ducked my head low and ran right through the crowd as fast as I could.

When I regained myself once I was sure I was clear, I honestly couldn't believe it worked, several of them were even sprawled on the ground from my knocking them over. I almost wanted to laugh, but I knew I had to keep running. I needed to get to my friends as quickly as possible, and so as I ran, I came up with the steps to get there as I went back into the school halls. The quickest way back to the neighborhood our apartment was on was on the side of town the front of the school was facing, so I had to make my way to the main entrance. I thought I had had it all figured out, thinking nothing could possibly go wrong, but when I reached the lobby...despair didn't even begin to describe how I felt. Within almost no time at all, the lobby was suddenly crawling with once dead students, wandering aimlessly, their spine chilling groans filling the now empty halls.

What made this all the more gut wrenching and almost heartbreaking was that I recognized the faces of some of these shambling corpses. I may not have ever talked to them, but seeing someone you once knew, dead, is tragic, no matter who it is.

Trying my hardest to hold back the bile rising in the back of my throat from the stench and the terrible sight, I quickly made a dash back for the stairs, back to the second floor, I didn't care where I ended up, just so long as it was away from Them. In a mad and panicked dash, before I even realized what had just happened, I was suddenly hunched over, trying to catch my breath inside one of the staff offices, the door shut behind me. It was several minutes before I finally had gotten my breathing back under control, and took in my surroundings. Without wasting a moment, I quickly locked the door and sat down against the wall, keeping my eyes glued on the door, the machete unsheathed and held tightly in my trembling hands.

With finally a moment of what could only be called peace and quiet, I had finally allowed my fear and other emotions finally catch up to me. My entire body was trembling with fear, anxiety and worry, for myself, for my friends, for whoever else could possibly be here, or out there in the city. My restrained tears were almost instantly going down my face as I dropped the machete, burying my face into my knees, rolling up into a ball. I was so scared, so utterly terrified, more than I had ever been in my entire life. I couldn't get those horrible images, all the blood, all the screams, all the chaos, I couldn't get it out of my head. Even worse, I was completely and utterly alone. My friends weren't there like they always had been, for all I knew, they were dead already.

I remember staying like that for several hours, until the orange glow of the evening sun had come shining through the windows. I don't know if I ever slept at all the whole time, or if I had simply lost consciousness with my eyes open, I just know I didn't remember anything up until the evening had come. What was left of the few screams of my remaining schoolmates were finally gone, and all there was, was the collective moaning of the dead, echoing through the now silent evening air. I had felt so helpless, so weak, so utterly clueless on what I was going to do, it felt like I was sitting all alone in a mental haze, until I suddenly heard an earsplitting scream break through the once silent air outside. I guess it's not surprising that it really made me jump with surprise when it came. I had come to really believe I was the only one left. I couldn't help but look outside through the blinds, but there wasn't a sign of life anywhere outside or on the roof. Sure, it sounds like I was starting to hallucinate, but I knew what I heard, and as strange as it may sound, it gave me a small sense of hope, if not for someone who could help get me out of here and back home, then just for the fact that I wasn't actually alone.

Norwegian for "Chapter One: The Beginning of the End"

Norwegian for "Not good"

Norwegian for "Ok guys, I'm going to school. Fritjof, don't let Detliv go out today. If he goes out and the police find outhe's high on pot, we will all be in big trouble, okay?"

Swedish for "OK, Bjarte. Don't let the whole foreigner student pressure thing get to you."

Norwegian for "honest to god"

**Well guys, that's the very first chapter of my new story, and I hope you all like it. Also, for those of you actually fluent in these languages, I know that the dialogue I used doesn't EXACTLY translate to what I said they meant, but they say almost exactly the same thing. Also, I will have the POV's of the other Scandinavian characters be presented as well, but not until they end up joining the main group as well. This time, you CAN expect me to update this on a somewhat regular basis. Please read and review, and I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.**


	2. Inte Längre Ensamt

**Well guys, I'm grateful for all the views that my story has gotten so far, so just like I said I would, here's chapter 2. What I'm trying to do here is have every chapter coencide with either every episode of the anime, or every chapter of the manga so far. At the same time, I'm also trying to keep the storytelling focus from my characters perspective, so if the result of that makes a chapter shorter than you were hoping it would be, then I apologize in advance. I don't own HOTD, that is the property of the Sato Brothers. I only own my original characters. Enjoy. Once again, the chapter titles will be in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Finnish in that order for the newcomers who will be reading this. Also, I apologize to those of you that might get tired of all the foreign languages being thrown out throughout this chapter, and no doubt throughout the rest of this story. I simply do this for the sake of integrity, to try and add as much realism to the story as possible, the ever present language barrier between the Japanese and the Scandinavians included, but I will provide plenty of translations at the end of each chapter to make it up to you. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.**

_Kapitel Två: Inte Längre Ensamt_(1)

The sound was still resonating clearly in my head, echoing endlessly, no matter how brief it really had been. I know that the scream I had just heard from outside was real, and this meant I wasn't alone anymore. There were still some of my schoolmates alive out there. At least, that's what I was desperately hoping for. I had no idea what that scream could've meant. Could they have run into some of the dead? Was that scream a final death cry as they were eaten? So many possibilities, almost all of them bad. The panic and worry was driving me crazy. I knewI couldn't stick around in that office much longer, I needed to get out, I needed to get back home to my friends. Were they still alive? I had no idea, but I had to find out.

With those thoughts, the despair set in once again, even worse than before. From the brief time I had gone outside, there were several dozen fires all over the city, and for all I knew, our home could have been one of them. Not just that, but the sounds of the emergency sirens and the distant wails of panicked and terrified citizens that echoed for miles clearly showed me that this was going on everywhere. Had my oldest friends been eaten, had they become one of those monsters that were shambling out on the school grounds at that very moment? I didn't know, and the very thought was making my now-empty stomach twist in knots.

I grabbed the handle of the machete I had taken from the groundskeeper shed, holding onto it tightly as I brought myself up onto my knees to look out the window. I was desperate to get out, and I had to know what my chances were of even getting out of the school in one piece. Obviously, what I had seen out there dashed all those plans out the window. You would think that the first time I had looked out the window when that scream had been made, I would have had the common sense to check how things were on the ground. Well, people in general haven't been known for thinking clearly when in a state of panic, myself included. **Kan du sømmelig skylden mig?**(2)

Pretty much the entirety of the school grounds was crawling with Them. I don't know what had been wrong with me, thinking I could have been able to make my way out that easily. Maybe I was hoping the majority of those monsters would have left the schoolgrounds for the city, or or anywhere else at all so long as it would have given me a clear route of escape. With that realization, all the flaws had come to me then as well. If I had escaped from the school, where would I have gone afterwards? For all I knew, I was going on a wild goose chase, and the city would have hundreds or thousands more of the dead roaming the streets, and I would have just gotten myself killed for nothing.

I remember when this idea suddenly came to mind. It was so simple, and yet so brilliant. I admit, up until that moment I had completely forgotten that I still had my cellphone on me, and I could've been able to use that. I really felt like an idiot for a split second there, and I still do sometimes when I look back on it. I knew Ditlev and Alpi didn't have their own cellphones, but Fritjof did, and he always, ALWAYS had it on him. I immediately had put in his number, and had the phone up to my ear in a heartbeat. This was the most surefire way to see if they were okay. There were several rings sounding out, and each one made my heart skip a beat and send chills up my spine. So many questions were going through my head in just those several seconds. Were they dead? Did Fritjof actually forget his cellphone? Where were they? Were they on their way here? Then, I finally got my answer when I could hear Fritjof's voice on the other end. There was a bit of fuzz on his end, but I didn't care. They were alive, by the gods they were still alive!

"**Bjarte? Hallo? Bjarte, är ni det?"**(3) I could hear him saying. I could also hear the evident panic in his voice, but I couldn't hear either Ditlev or Alpi on his end in the background. **"Fritjof, jeg er her, ikke bekymre. Hvor er du? Er Ditlev og Alpi med deg? Hva som skjedde på du gutta?****"**(4) I immediately asked once he had given me a chance to answer. I could hear a faint sigh of relief on his end, but Fritjof didn't sound any less panicked when he continued. **"Oh gud, Bjarte, jag vet inte vad som hände. Allt har skett så snabbt... Vi hörde allt detta buller utanför plötsligt, och innan vi visste att det var de vid ingången, och vi var tvungna att hoppa från fönstret. Jag kan inte förstå vad som händer om, det går inte någon mening, Bjarte!"** (5) he was beginning to sob on the other end as I could only listen. Fritjof was always so cool, calm and collected, and to hear him on the verge of breaking down like this...actually disturbed me more than anything else I had witnessed that day. It simply served as more solid proof that this was real, although I still don't know what more proof I could have possibly needed beforehand.

As I could only bring myself to listen to Fritjof's hysterical sobbing, I could just barely make out Alpi and ditlev in the background, thankfully clear enough so that I could hear what they were saying. **"Fritjof, for Guds skyld, stop græde og fortælle Bjarte hvad vi laver! Han har brug for at være klar!" **(6) I could hear Ditlev yelling at Fritjof, quickly followed by the faint sound of some kind of physical impact, or at least that's what I could only assume it was. **"****Unohda se, Ditlev! Hän murtaa. Hommaa hänet jaloilleen ja saada liikkeelle! NYT!**" (7) I suddenly heard Alpi yelling impatiently, followed by a deafening bang that forced me to jerk my head away from the phone for a split second. I had heard Ditlev mentioning to Fritjof about what the three of them were doing. I needed to know what was going on.

"**Fritjof, holder på! Hva er Ditlev snakker om? Hva gjør dere? Vær så snill, fortell meg nå!" **(8) I immediately spoke out, just hoping to keep Fritjof's attention so he could still be able to speak. For several moments, I didn't hear a response, all I could hear was Ditlev's yelling, more of those deafening bangs, and a whole bunch of noisy fuzz from their end. It sounded to me like they were in some kind of fight, and I was desperately hoping, as foolish as it may have been,that it wasn't against what I thought it was. Then, I could hear Fritjof's voice again. **"Bjarte, lyssna på mig mycket noggrant, okej? När vi fick ut av lägenhet, vi alla har beslutat att gå över till din skolan och skaffa dig! Vi "alla komma ut ur staden tillsammans, du höra?****"** (9) I suddenly heard him say. I could feel my whole body go cold once I heard all of what they were planning. I had to stop them, they had no idea just what they were walking into.

"**Ingen! Fritjof, ikke gjør dette! Skolen er en dødsfelle, er hele skolen kryr av hva disse monstrene er! Du må finne et trygt sted å skjule, jeg vil finne min egen vei ut og komme til dere, ok?" **(10) I started to yell into my end, hoping he could hear me, and better yet, listen to what I was saying. "**Vad? Vad skulle ni säga, Bjarte? Jag kan inte höra dig, jag tror du bryter upp! Se, bara stanna där ni, vi kommer att så snart som vi kan!" **(11) I could hear him say, and I felt my entire body go cold and stiff when I heard those words. In a panic, I looked at the screen of my cellphone, and as I had feared, the signal I had established with them had suddenly disappeared. I held the phone back up to my ear, hoping to hear anything, but instead, I just heard that dreadful silence. I was too late, I couldn't warn them. They were walking into a death trap, and there was nothing I could do to stop them.

"**GUD DÆMNING DET!"** (12) I screamed in a brief moment of rage, and I didn't even realize I had smashed my cellphone to pieces against the wall I had thrown it against until it was already too late. I was pounding my fist against the floor again and again in this frustration I was going through. The same words of rage...and fear, kept racing through my entire being. How far away were they from the school? How much time would it take before they'd show up? Would they even make it here, or would those goddamn zombies kill them, and I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it?

At that instant, I suddenly heard a sound I had been silently hoping I wouldn't hear, especially now of all times. I could hear something banging against the door to the office I had been hiding it. Someone was out there, and trying to get in, and I already knew it wasn't human. I was so scared, I couldn't bring myself to act, i knew deep down I could be able to handle just one of those monsters with my machete, but I was frozen to the floor, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't even say anything, even to myself.

However, I suddenly heard something else from outside the hall, and I had no idea what it could've been, but it certainly wasn't one of Them. It almost sounded like a click, and after I heard it, the pounding at my door was gone, and I heard the sound of something collapsing on the floor just outside. I didn't know what it could've been. Were there other survivors here? Were the police or the SDF going through the school and taking out all of Them? I knew I needed to get off my ass and see what the hell was going on out there. Getting back onto my feet, I propped myself against the door, trying to listen for whatever that clicking sound was, and then it sounded out several more times, followed by a few distant sounding thuds.

I've never been an expert with firearms, I never even knew much about their different varieties to begin with. Guns were more Alpi's specialty, but even I knew that this didn't sound like any gun I'd ever heard, even in the movies. Then, I heard voices, two of them, one male, and one female, and they sounded way too young to be the police, they didn't sound any older than me.

"How can we discover their characteristics like this?" I heard the female voice say, lined with frustration. "Please, Takagi-san, you fight them too!" the male immediately responded, sounding in a mixture of both timidness, and weak authority. "Why do I have to do that?" the girl responded, this time more angry rather than frustrated.

"The magazine is almost empty!" the boy answered, trying to sound more confident towards his apparently bossy compatriot. "SO WHAT! Why don't you just reload it!" she yelled out, forcing me to take a step back from the door. **Pokker** (13), I immediately felt sorry for whoever it was that had to stick with whoever this girl was. Then, I could hear the boy mutter..."But, they're right behind you."

In that instant, I heard the most bloodcurdling scream I could've ever experienced right on the other side of those thin walls, nearly making me jump out of my skin with shock, and most of all, horror. I had to do something, and I needed to do it now, but damn it all I was too scared to move, simply because I had no idea what was waiting for me just beyond that door. Who knew how many of those monsters were out there in the halls, they could've been flooding the whole damn building, and all it would've taken for them to find, and eat me, was for me to just open that door.

At the same time, however, I couldn't just sit here and let whoever was out there die. If I were to make it out of this alive, such a choice would've haunted me for the rest of my life. Sure, I knew next to nobody in this school all that great, but damn it they were still human beings, and they deserved to live just as much as anyone else. I could hear the sound of someone falling against the wall just outside the office, and I could hear those creatures getting hit, most likely with something flimsy, as those horrid empty moans didn't cease at all. "Get away, GET AWAY FROM ME!" I could hear the girl screaming, sounding more and more like she was on the brink of losing her mind.

I couldn't take it anymore, I had to get out there and help them, no matter what would happen as a result. Gritting my teeth, wiping the frozen sweat from my brow and taking the deepest breath, I immediately unlocked the door, and flung it open, letting the momentum my legs were gaining, guide me. I was almost instantly around the corner, and with a terrified scream, I blindly swung my machete at full arms length, miraculously slamming it into the back of a female students' head. For a fraction of an instant, I feared I had killed one of those two survivors, but the instant I saw the sickly gray skin, those fears were dashed away.

It took a small amount of effort to pull my weapon out of its' skull, but once it was out, I was facing out into the hall, and was facing several zombies, steadily approaching me. I suddenly heard the sound of something small and electric behind me, and when I looked over my shoulder, I immediately came to regret it. It was the girl, she was sitting against the shattered display of one of the schools' trophy cases, and with her arms outstretched, she had an electric drill in her hands, and it was boring into the forehead of one of those monsters, and the blood and what I could only assume was grey matter and cartilage, was splattering all over her, and I nearly wretched again at the sight.

When I had regained my composure, I was suddenly able to make out the sounds of multiple footsteps rapidly approaching from the hall to the left. This wasn't shuffling, it was actual running, which could only mean there were more survivors who must have heard all the noise. Before I was able to rejoice, one of those monsters, one of the teachers, suddenly lunged forward towards me, and with completely accidental reflexes, I had my machete impaled through its' neck, and all I could bring myself to do was kick it in the chest to get my weapon out, and with that freakish momentum, I had the blade slammed into its' skull in a downward strike, only this time it was easier to get the blade out.

Immediately after that, those footsteps all finally came around the corner, and I could finally see the faces of my fellow survivors. One of them, no doubt the only faculty of the group, I recognized as the school nurse, only because she had treated my ankle one time when I sprained it during a soccer, or 'football' game a month back. She was easily the tallest among the four of them, and had long, interestingly blonde hair. I only use the word interesting, simply because blonde is natural for Scandinavians like my sister and Ditlev, and not for Japanese like her.

Another one I recognized as the president of the kendo club, cause I had seen her face back when I was trying to find a club to join. She had long, purple hair, but for some reason, it actually looked natural, and probably the coldest looking blue eyes I'd ever seen, maybe even worse than Alpi had. However, the other two, I couldn't bring myself to believe. Out of all the people in this school who could've been lucky enough to survive all this mayhem and carnage, I never thought it would be people I actually knew reasonably well. Takeshi Komuro and Rei Miyamoto were both standing there as well, Takeshi with what looked like a steel baseball bat clenched tightly in his hand, and Rei carrying what I think was a metal mop handle, minus the mop.

I don't know if they had noticed me yet, but before I could say anything, I could still hear that drill running behind me, and I could hear that girl screaming words that I'm never going to forget, mainly because, it seemed to finally hammer in that final nail, that showed me how truly far gone the normal world we had all lived in, was no more. "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! MAMA!" she was screaming, with what I could only think was hysteria hanging in her horrified tone.

Tightening my grip on the blade of my now filthy machete, my gaze was immediately upon that groaning horde that was still approaching us. "Let me take care of the right." I heard the purple-haired girl suddenly announce, and like a shot she was on the move, and we all moved forward as if on some kind of cue. "I'll hold the left!" Rei suddenly spoke out, just as she and Takeshi moved side-by-side into the left portion of the horde. "I'll take either one!" I shouted, just as I swung my blade from the right, directly into the face of another girl student, which I immediately followed with a kick to the torso, freeing my weapon, allowing me to counteract with the shift of my weight, to swing the blade all the way around to where I had previously had my back turned, and i made a completely clear cut through the neck of a male student, and without an interruption in the motion, my blade was finally stopped halfway through the neck of another male.

I was rather horrified, yet amazed, at the kind of skill I was showing with that simple machete. I'd never even used swords before, and while my motion may have been far from professional, it still seemed impressive to me.

I was struggling to get my weapon free, and the damn thing was still trying to reach for me, but just when I felt I was done for, there was suddenly a loud cracking sound, and the creature just collapsed at my feet, and all I could see behind where it once stood was that purple-haired girl, clutching a wooden kendo sword firmly in her hands, already diverting her attention to another approaching zombie. In what I swear could've only been an instant, she had suddenly swung that sword, and not only was she suddenly on the other side of a group of three, but all three zombies collapsed to the floor simultaneously. I immediately had to react to a straggler that had almost snuck up on me, but in the last instant I saw her face, I could've sworn she was smiling. To be honest...it frightened me.

The whole fight was over almost as quickly as it had started, and all those dead that had been attacking us, were now lying at our feet. I collapsed onto me knees, laying my hands on the floor, desperately trying to catch my breath as my heart was pounding violently at my chest from the burst of adrenaline I had just experienced during that whole fight. I was soon able to get back on my feet, and as I slipped my machete back into the leather sheath I found it in, I was finally able to get a real look at my fellow survivors. The only two I hadn't taken a notice two yet had been the two outside my office. The boy was quite a bit shorter than me, a little bit on the chubby side, had semi-long black hair and a nerdy pair of glasses, and his eyes had an even share between gentle and inviting, and fierce and serious.

The girl, who was still sitting motionless against the shattered trophy case, had her hair done in a pair of obnoxious looking pigtails, and it was an unsightly shade of pink. The look on her face however, completely betrayed the way she had sounded when I had first heard her. The zombie she had killed was lying at her feet, a large pool of blood collected around his head, and her face was completely pale, her eyes, on the verge of going thousand-yard-stare. Plus, I could've sworn I heard her on the verge of breaking out into tears. **Jeg ville ikke ha skylden henne for det, heller. **(14)

"Bjarte-san, you're alive! I can't believe it!" I suddenly heard Rei exclaim as I looked up to see her and Takeshi approach me. I was happy to actually see some smiling faces for the first time in what felt like years. It really did do my heart good to see some of my friends had made it. I met them both with brief hugs before I was able to get a word in. "Christ, is it good to see you two again. Where did you guys go to?" I couldn't help but ask them. Everyone who had tried to run ended up becoming one of those shambling corpses, so I could only assume they had hid somewhere.

"We had gone to the roof, trying to find somewhere to hide. Hisashi and I were able to build a barricade out of some spare desks from the Astronomy Club storehouse, but we had to take it down in order to make our way down here." Takeshi explained to me as Rei had gone to check on the pink-haired girl in the corner. "Hisashi-san is with you guys? Wow, there're more survivors here than I thought. Where is he? I haven't seen him with you guys." I immediately asked him as I looked down the hall they had come from, perhaps assuming he had hidden a ways back down the hall. Takeshi didn't answer me, but before I asked him again, I saw a certain look in his eyes, and that look really put me at unease.

"Takeshi-san...what happened?" I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to really know the answer. Albeit, I got it anyway. "He was bitten, and he turned into one of...Them, while we were hiding out on the roof. I...I had to kill him." Takeshi told me, his voice just above that of a whisper, but I could hear him trying to fight back tears as he bowed his head down, his fists clenching. I decided not to ask him any more of it. At least that explained what the scream I had heard earlier had come from. Without a word, I placed my hand on his shoulder briefly before he made his way towards the glass door that led to one of the bridges that connected the two main buildings of this school.

I took a look around me, just looking at all these people that were now around me. I was no longer alone, and yet I wasn't at ease. I still had my oldest friends to still worry about, but if I wanted to get anywhere close to finding them, I knew I wasn't going to be able to do it alone. I needed, no...I wanted to stick with these people for as long as I could, and maybe they could be able to help me find my friends, then we could all stick together. If ever there was a time I needed to get myself more associated with my fellow former schoolmates, this was the best time.

'Well, I guess while we're here, maybe it'd be best if we all knew each other by name now. I guess I'll go first. I'm Bjarte Mortensen, exchange student from Norway for those of you who haven't heard rumors about me by now." I spoke out, trying to get a bit of a laugh out, if anything but to ease the tension in the air we were all no doubt feeling. The first one to answer was that purple-haired girl with the chilling blue eyes. I know I've kept bringing this up to you, but there was just something about those eyes that really unsettled me.

"I'm Busujima Saeko, class 3-A, kendo club." she announced in a reserved, yet sociable manner. "I assume you already know Miss Shizuka Marikawa-sensei." she continued, nodding her head towards the tall blonde woman who was kneeling next to the pink haired girl alongside Rei. Takeshi was the next one to go. "I'm Takeshi Komuro from class 2-B." Rei immediately followed. "Rei Miyamoto, class 2-B." Then the short pudgy boy chimed in. "I'm Kouhta Hirano, class B." he spoke out, rather softly, and rather nervously at that. I could tell, he wasn't exactly the confident speaker-type. Once Kouhta had finished the introductions, since the pink-haired girl didn't say a word, Saeko basically ended it all with a surprisingly pleasant smile and a formal "nice to meet you." to all of us. I gotta say, her voice really betrayed her looks at a first glance.

Before we were able to discuss anything else, the pink-haired girl suddenly got back up on her feet, and shot every single one of us one of the most hateful looks I had ever seen. "Why are you guys being all squishy?" she suddenly spoke up, catching everyone's attention. She then turned her attention towards Rei. "Why are you being so polite to her, Miyamoto? You just repeated a grade, so you guys are the same age!" she lashed out, venom evident in every word. I was completely speechless about this girls' attitude, but Takeshi stepped in before I could. "What are you talking about, Takagi?" he asked calmly, when she suddenly snapped her head in our direction over her shoulder, and I could feel daggers ripping through my entire body from the look she was giving us all.

"DON'T EVEN TRY TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME! I'M A GENIUS YOU KNOW!" she suddenly screamed out, incomparable fury lacing every word. "Once I put my mind to it, I'm invincible! I am...I am..." she continued, clutching her hand to her shirt, her eyes not even fixed on us anymore, but just staring into space. It almost looked like the genuine thousand-yard-stare like the Vietnam Vets, but before she could continue, Saeko quietly walked up to her, and laid a single hand on her shoulder, which seemed to snap Takagi out of it. "It's okay, that's enough." Saeko spoke softly to her. Takagi didn't say a word. All she did was turn her gaze towards a mirror that was leaning against the wall, and I could just barely see her face in the reflection from where I stood, but what I could see, showed me everything she was feeling.

"Look how dirty it's gotten..." she spoke quietly, most likely to herself, and I couldn't help then but notice all the blood that was all over her uniform. "I need to ask my mom to take it to the cleaner." she continued, her voice now starting to crack. Hearing her words, my eyes slowly fell upon my hands and the cuffs of my own uniform, and they too were covered in blood, and I could feel a nauseating cold in the pit of my stomach, and my hair standing on end from the sight of it. A sensation was beginning to sting at the back of my eyes as I heard everything else that followed. I could hear Takeshi approach Takagi from behind, I could hear Takagi clutch onto Saeko's uniform and fall to her knees, and then, all I could hear, was Takagi bursting into long-repressed tears, and that's when my own began to fall as well.

Not even half a day had passed since this all happened, and yet already so much had changed, and the memories kept flooding back into my brain. The screams, the blood, the chaos and destruction, the death, the unrelenting fear, the worry, the sadness, the loneliness, the ever nagging horror, and the regret. I could see the bodies of the dead I had put to eternal rest fresh in my mind, and I couldn't help but see them as they were back when they were living human beings...and I essentially killed them. It was so much to think about...far too much for one person to bear, and yet that was the burden I had to carry with me. I couldn't stay on my own two feet, I couldn't show myself breaking down in front of all these people. I didn't want to. I collapsed onto the floor, sitting against the wall, bringing my arms back around my legs and curling back up into a ball, trying to hide my face behind my knees. For a moment, I couldn't help but look down at the floor, at one of the shards of glass that was once part of the trophy case, and I saw my own reflection as well. I saw the red of my eyes from the tears that were rolling down my face, and I could also see the numerous specks of blood that adorned it, from those I had put down.

The sight was too horrific for me to look at for more than that moment, but before I could do anything, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder as well. From all the things that had happened, I couldn't help but jump in shock from such an unexpected feeling, and yet I was only put at ease in the slightest bit when I just saw it was Rei, looking at me with the same concern as Saeko had shown Takagi only moments before. For some reason, that heartfelt concern that showed in her light brown eyes, the kind that someone could only receive from a true friend, told me it was okay if I broke down in front of the others, if only for just a short time. So, I did.

It was a few minutes before I had finally been able to regain my composure, and Takagi had finally stopped weeping as well, and once everything was calm, I suggested we all head into the office I had been hiding in. Once they were all in, I had locked the door once more, and everyone set to their own business. Kouhta and Takeshi used a few tables and other heavy objects to barricade the door, just incase, and I was rather embarrassed that I hadn't thought of that myself. I explained to Takeshi and Rei that I had destroyed my cellphone by accident after having lost contact with my friends, and therefore, I explained to them my whole situation, and how I was desperate to try and find them before it was too late, if it wasn't already. Takagi had retreated to a small bathroom in the farther corner of the office, and the running water could only lead me to assume she was trying desperately to get the blood off her face, and I was using some paper towels I had found in a supply closet to try and clean my machete the best I could.

Saeko and Shizuka-sensei were sitting quietly at the tables, most likely just trying to regain the smallest bit of energy after what they must have gone through, and it seemed like a really tempting idea to me too for a moment. Kouhta was eventually looking over this bizarre firearm he apparently had made. It looked like one of the nail guns from one of the classrooms I had been in for a brief time. I could tell by the attentive look in his eyes, he was really into guns. Knowing Alpi as long as I have, it became really easy to notice. I knew that if they were to have met, if it weren't for the language barrier, the two of them would've been the best of friends.

Rei found some water bottles in a mini fridge that I hadn't even noticed, and started distributing them out to everyone. Once Takagi had finally gotten out of the bathroom, this time adorning glasses, and everyone was all together, Takeshi spoke up to Shizuka-sensei, and I remember the feeling of excitement I got when I heard the possibility of us getting a car to get the hell out of here. However, it didn't help when she admitted it wasn't anywhere near big enough for all of us.

When I glanced through an opening in the blinds behind me, that's when I noticed our real ticket out of here, just as Saeko did as well. "What about the microbuses parked out front? We could use one of those to drive right through the gate, and then it's a straight drive right into the city." she spoke up, and my mind was doing leaps of joy. That was perfect! I had seen a board on the wall with all the bus keys, so that wouldn't be a problem at all!

"We could be able to use those buses to get through all of town without having to worry about running into more of Them, and we can try and find our families as well." Takeshi explained, and as I thought it over, I wasn't really able to see any kind of a problem. It would also make looking for my friends a lot easier as well. I got up from my seat at the window as I looked over everyone in front of me. "He's right. We can use the buses, find my friends, find all your families, and we could be able to take them with us, and after that, we might be able to find a way out of this city! I mean, I saw a bunch of helicopters outside earlier today when this all started happening! That means the SDF might be mounting evacuations for any survivors all over the city! The buses are big enough that we don't have to worry about them getting in or turning it over! It's perfect!" I explained in mounting excitement. Finally, everything was starting to come together, and for a moment, I felt like nothing could possibly go wrong.

At least, that's what I thought, until I saw everyone's gazes were fixated on something else. I turned to see where they were looking, and I saw Rei staring up at the TV monitor that was mounted on the wall, and the look on her face, as well as everyone else's was complete and utter shock. "What's wrong?" I asked as I looked up at the TV. I reached up to turn up the volume, and what I began to hear, seemed to almost completely freeze time for me and everyone else.

"The government has begun to consider emergency measures against the outbreaks that have been occurring all over the place. However, all the political parties have been expressing their uncertainty about the Self Defense Force's security operations." the anchorwoman had been explaining in the studio. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and I doubt none of us could. This was happening all over the country. "Outbreak? What do they mean 'outbreak'?" Takeshi asked in frustration and confusion, prompting Saeko to grab the remote that layed on the table, and turn the volume up to the max.

The news program on the TV then switched to a field anchorwomena who was standing in the middle of an empty street, with multiple paramedics and police officers bustling in the background. "It's feared that over more than 10,000 people have been victimized in the Saitama area so far. The governor has already declared a state of emergency..." but before she could continue, there was suddenly the sound of gunshots in the background. This caught the paramedics and the anchorwoman completely off guard as the camera moved to focus first on a group of policemen firing their pistols off camera, and then towards two stretchers with body bags that were literally rising up. "It looks like the police are finally using firearms! I wonder what they just fired at!" Suddenly, two gunshots rang out, and both body bags immediately collapsed again, and that's when her screaming started.

"No! What! No way! Help me!" and then a blood-chilling scream, then the camera collapsed to the ground, and their were several shambling pairs of feets moving towards the camera, and that's when the television feed finally cut to plain white static, leaving our entire room completely and deathly silent.

Swedish for: Chapter Two: No Longer Alone

Norwegian for: Can you really blame me?

Swedish for: Bjarte, hello? Bjarte, are you there?

Norwegian for: Fritjof, I'm here, don't worry. Where are you? Are Ditlev and Alpi with you? What happened to you guys?

Swedish for: Oh God, Bjarte, I don't know what happened. Everything happened so quickly... We heard all this noise outside suddenly, and before we knew it, they were at the door, and we had to jump from the window. I don't understand what's going on, it doesn't make any sense, Bjarte!

Danish for: Fritjof, for God's sake, stop crying and tell Bjarte what we're doing! He needs to be ready!

Finnish for: Forget it, Ditlev! He's breaking down. Just get him on his feet and get moving! NOW!

Norwegian for: Fritjof, hold on! What's Ditlev talking about? What are you doing? Please, tell me now!

Swedish for: Bjarte, listen to me very carefully, okay? When we got out of apartment, we all decided to move on to your school and get you! We'll come out from the city together, you hear?

Norwegian for:No! Fritjof, don't do this! The school is a death trap, the whole school is full of these monsters! You need to find a safe place to hide, I'll find my own way out and come to you, okay?

Swedish for: What? What did you say, Bjarte? I can't hear you, I think you're breaking up! Look, just staywhere you are, we'll be there as soon as we can.

Norwegian for: GODAMMIT!

Norwegian for: Goddamn

Norwegian for: I wouldn't blame her for it, either.

**Holy shit, there was a lot more use of Scandinavian dialogue than even I was expecting. Plus, knowing just what happens in this episode, and considering where our Norwegian character had been left off, I honestly wasn't expecting this chapter to be as long as it is. Oh well, at least it gives you more to read, and in a way, more to learn. I love teaching eager readers bits and peaces of foreign languages. Well, just read and review, and I hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I have enjoyed writing it.**


	3. Kapitel Tre: Genforene At Undslippe

**Well everybody, I am truly grateful for all the views and couple of reviews I've gotten so far, so here's chapter 3. At last, everyone will finally come back together, and things will be kicked into full motion. I hope you'll all enjoy, and be sure to review. I don't own HOTD, that belongs to the Sato Brothers. I only own my original characters.**

_Kapitel Tre: Genforene At Undslippe_ (1)

Once the feed for the camera out on the streets had cut out, the news had cut back to the studio. Both anchors looked shocked and appalled, and in the background, it sounded like the studio was in an uproar. "W-we are experiencing technical difficulties. We shall continue our coverage of this story as it continues, from within the studio." The anchors continued, trying their best to keep some kind of composure, no doubt to incite some calm into their viewers. How that would have worked after what had just happened to their field reporter was beyond me. It was beyond all of us.

"That's it? That's all they can say now? How can that be it?" Takashi asked angrily. I definitely shared his sentiment. It's the job of the news anchor to deliver the truth to the people in times of crisis, and sometimes, leaving out the horrific details can make a situation even worse in the long run. I would've thrown my own share of words in there as well when Takagi suddenly spoke out.

"They don't want to incite panic." She said bluntly and matter-of-factly. We all turned our gaze to her as she straightened her glasses and raised her head to look all of us right in the eye as she would continue.

"Isn't it too late for that already?" Rei spoke up, and that should have put an end to that discussion right there, because she was right. The whole city was in a haze of chaos, fires everywhere, the police and fire departments no doubt unable to do anything at all. However, Takagi's further explanations did make more and more sense as she went on.

"This is the perfect time for it! You see, fear gives rise to chaos, and chaos gives rise to the collapse of social order. When social order collapses, how do you propose we retaliate against the walking dead? When the very foundations that a civilized society is founded upon collapse, everything you thought mattered won't mean a thing anymore. People once thought to be civilized could be viable to go crazy from all that's happening, and they could become just as much a danger to their fellow survivors, as the dead are, if not more so. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that they would at least attempt to maintain a sense of calm for the few that are currently unaware of the situation as of yet." Takagi proceeded to explain, and I hung onto every word. She was absolutely right. When things devolve into chaos, you need to be careful for those that are most likely to go crazy, whether it be a natural disaster or a war. **Menneskeheden er brutale på hjerte. Altid været, og sandsynligvis vil altid være.** (2)

None of us could think of anything else to say in response to her reasoning, so we all turned out attention back towards the TV. Busujima-san would switch to a different channel every few minutes, and every channel was instead, broadcasting a different news station, and every single word we got from those multiple anchors, it only served to make things look all the more bleak.

"The streets are a very dangerous place right now, so please refrain from leaving your homes if possible. Also, please barricade your doors and windows, and reinforce the windows wherever you can. If, for whatever reason, you are unable to get to your homes, please head for the nearest shelter in your area." One anchor spoke as he loosened his collar nervously while not taking his eyes off of us. Busujima-san switched the channel.

"Authorities cannot find a solution to the abnormal situation that has spread all across Europe." The other anchor spoke, and my heart skipped a beat that moment. I looked at Busujima-san who was about to switch over again when I just ran to her and suddenly smacked that remote right out of her hand. I had no control over myself, I was completely consumed with fear, and nobody was going to have me left with uncertainty. "Don't you dare touch that fucking remote!" I spat out as I returned my gaze to the TV screen, ignoring the shocked looks I was getting from everyone else. They were scared for their loved ones too, they should've understood as well as I did for them.

"Reports from international authorities and governments have confirmed that mainland Asia, Europe and the United States are experiencing the same outbreaks of violence as Japan. Judging by said reports, the majority of these violent riots are occurring in the capital cities. Descriptions of the current status of these cities widely vary from country to country. All major governments have taken different courses of action. We were recently informed that the executives of the Federal Government in the United States have abandoned the White House, and have announced that they are moving the Cabinet to a carrier in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, experts predict that this move is in preparation for the deployment of nuclear weapons. This just in, we have lost contact with the Russian capital city of Moscow. In China, the capital city of Beijing is in flames. In England, authorities have managed to maintain order in London, and looters are running rampant through the cities of Paris in France, and Rome in Italy. In Germany, there are reports of arson and murder sprouting amongst the riots throughout Berlin and Frankfurt. Law enforcement and Special Forces have managed to contain the situation so far throughout Norway, Sweden and Finland…" once those last words reached my ears, I finally released the breath I had been holding and hung my head down in relief.

Once I regained my composure and brought my head back up, I then let the fear come back to me. This was going on all over the world. In every country, the dead were coming back to life and eating the living, and despite what the news had just told us, I had doubts that law enforcement and Special Forces alike wouldn't be able to keep control on a rapidly exploding situation like this, and the very idea of America or Russia using their nuclear stockpiles should things get too out of hand…the very thought left my throat completely dry.

I could only look at my fellow survivors, see how they were able to take this all in. Shock and awe was plentiful for all of them, hearing that in such a short time, the entire world has gone straight to hell. If there was anything I could've said to help calm their nerves, as well as my own, I would have. "When I checked the internet just this morning, everything was just fine…" I could hear Kouta mutter quietly to himself. **Min økonomiske akkurat. **(3)

"I know, Hirano-san. We've all seen so much, and I'm sure deep down, there are parts of us that still can't believe this is happening, or rather don't want to believe this is happening. It's unbelievable yes, but I think it's too late for denial. This is real…" I answered as I looked through the open blinds once more at the numerous silhouettes shambling across the school grounds just beneath us. "…and it's everywhere." I finished.

"This can't be happening…it simply can't be happening. There has to be somewhere safe that we can go to!" Rei exclaimed, her voice trembling as she grabbed onto Takashi's arm for some kind of comfort. "Things have to go back to the way they were, don't they?" she continued, and I could see she was starting to cry. Just listening to the desperation in her voice nearly got me on the edge as well, but this time I knew I needed to keep it together.

"Fat chance." I suddenly heard Takagi speak out once more, catching all our attention again. "You don't have to talk like that, Takagi-san." Takashi retorted, stepping towards her before she cut him off once more. "Don't you get it, Komuro? What's going on right now is a pandemic, and there's nothing we can do about it." She continued as she began to pace her way throughout the office. It really reminded me of Fritjof whenever he'd go on to explain the differences and details of his latest computer. Just thinking back to those times forced me to wipe the tears from my eyes before I'd end up breaking out crying again.

"Pandemic?" I heard Marikawa-sensei ask, more out of confusion than concern. Made her look a lot less professional to me, but there was no time for accusations or pointing fingers. I sat down on one of the desks, keeping my right hand on the leather sheath of my machete as I kept listening to Takagi-san's explanation. "Yes, in other words, an explosive infection, the spreading of a single disease worldwide."

"You mean like the flu?" Takashi piped in as Takagi pushed her glasses up and continued. "Yes, well there have been similar cases of widespread diseases throughout history. For example, the Spanish Flu back in 1918 infected around 600 million people, and over 500 million of those people died. Most recently, the Bird Flu was believed to have just as devastating an effect. That alone was proof enough that you can't take the flu lightly. If a sickness like the flu, something that today is viewed as one of the most basic sicknesses there is, had such a devastating effect back then, how do you think something like what's going on right now is going to effect the whole world?" she went on, and once again, every word she said had a point to make. I was beginning to see why she viewed herself as a genius, if she was able to think this many details through.

"I'm not too sure about that. To me, this seems more like the Black Death epidemic, back in the 14th century." Marikawa-sensei suddenly spoke out, drawing all out attention back towards her. I'm sure back then, we were all eager to try and gather any kind of info we could, no matter how relevant it was to what was happening right now. I knew I would be able to shed a little more light with that kind of information she had just given us. "She's right. The flu epidemics were bad, but something this widespread and lethal is much more similar to the Black Plague. When that infection spread, an entire third of Europe's total population was wiped out within the span of two years." I chimed in.

"So, if something like the Black Death was able to spread so quickly and kill so many people, how was it that the infection eventually died out?" Takashi asked with an edge of bitterness evident in his tone. Clearly all these morbid details weren't lightening up the mood for any of us. I cleared my throat to grab his attention as I went on. "Basically the reason the infection died out was because there was nobody left to infect. Anyone who was afraid of getting sick isolated themselves from large communities and large numbers of people. Everyone else who was on the outside ended up getting sick and dying, and once all the sick were dead, and the isolated were left, the sickness came to an end. **"Det ganske mye endte så fort som det startet."** (4)

"What?" Takashi asked in confusion, and I quickly caught what I had done by mistake. "Oh, what I said was, 'it basically ended as quickly as it had started.' Pretty much every major infection in modern history ended in a similar manner." I finished up, waiting a few moments for everyone to take in what this could possibly mean. "You say that those infections ended when all the infected died out." I heard Hirano-san say as he was looking through the blinds. "However, this is very different from past epidemics. This time, the ones that die get back up and bite those that aren't infected, and therefore, they spread the sickness, so this time, the infection won't just die out over a period of time." He said grimly, and I believe we all felt the cold biting truth to his words.

"Well, wait a minute, what if all the infected succumb to decomposition?" Marikawa-sensei suddenly exclaimed with excitement. I'm sure we were all pretty surprised we hadn't taken that little detail into account ourselves yet. "The summer season is just around the corner, and if the dead are exposed to the summer heat, perhaps it would be able to speed up the decomposition process. Their flesh would rot away, and maybe once they're nothing but bone, they won't be able to move anymore, and they'll just collapse in the streets. That would take away whatever danger this infection presents immediately." She explained to us. I'm sure we all would have been very optimistic knowing this, but I'm afraid things weren't meant to be that simple.

"Well, that's the way it would be normally, when the dead bodies aren't up and moving around." Takagi once again spoke up, and at this point, I'm sure some of us were getting tired of the pessimistic part she would throw in to every new revelation. I knew I was. "How can we even be so sure that the dead will rot at all if they're moving around? Sure, say the decomposition theory was to actually be a factor. In the summer, it would most likely take an average of twenty days for the desired effect to take place. In the winter, it would take several months, but once again, it's only a theory. We don't know if they will rot at all. All we do know is that the way things are going now; we can't just sit around and wait to see if such a theory would actually work. Worst case scenario would be that such a process would take forever." She finally had finished up, leaving us all at a loss for words and ideas.

Finally, Busujima-san was the one who break the silence. "Well, now all we have to discuss is just what we are going to do once we're out there in the city. Better yet, once we confirm that our families are safe, where would we go? That's the biggest question we have to face right now. Once we're out there, it won't do us any good to just panic and run everywhere about, trying to find our families. We'd never survive. What we need to do is band together and function as a team in order to survive, and perhaps even gather up other survivors we may find."

I agreed with Busujima-san on this plan, but before we were to head out, I needed to get my word in as well. "Alright, so I think we can all agree that that is the best course of action, head out for the microbuses, take one into the city, look for your families and gather up whatever other survivors we might find, and stay together as a team. However, I am not going on any such journey, until I find my friends first." I announce to them all. "Don't be stupid. You don't even know if they're alive or not, it's not worth going out into the city without any kind of protection. You'd be killed in no time at all." Takagi immediately retorted. At that point, I remember just how angry those words made me feel, and just how fed up I was with her constant arguments.

"Shut up! I know that they're still alive, and I know that they're somewhere out there, so just shut up!" I shouted. Needless to say, my sudden outburst caused everyone to take a step back in surprise, and Takagi was just frozen in place, her expression a balance between anger and fear. I felt it was now okay to continue with my reasoning. "Shortly before we had all met up in the halls, I had been able to get back in contact with my friends. For the short time I had a signal, they told me they were on their way to this school to come and get me out. I tried to warn them not to come here, but I lost touch with them before I could. So far, they had been able to fight…Them off. Unfortunately, I don't think they can last forever out there, and I'll be damned if I'm just going to stay here and leave their lives to chance." With that, I got up off the table, and slowly began to make my way to the barricade. "Now, I understand the concern you all have for your families, and therefore, I'm willing to stay with you all through it. However, those three guys are the closest thing to a family that I have here. So with all due respect, if I'm to help you look for your families, then I think it's only fair that you help me find my friends as well." I went on, ignoring the stares everyone was giving me as I made my way towards the office door, beginning to remove the paper stacks, chairs, file cabinets and tables that made up the barricade. Once I had that door uncovered, I turned back to look at them all, should the decision I was afraid to make, become my only option. I waited for a few lingering moments, waiting for anyone to say something, to show that they would help me as I said I would for them. Unfortunately, to my utter shock, nobody said a thing.

"So…if none of you are willing to aid me in this, then that's fine. I'm going to go out there, and I'm going to find my friends, with or without your help. If that's to be the case, then good luck to all of you. Honestly." I finished as I began to bring my hand towards the lock.

"Now just hold on a minute, Bjarte-san." I heard Takashi protest, his footsteps approaching from behind me, and a firm steady hand grasping onto my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder at him, and the look in his dark brown eyes was one of protest, but also that of an authority. I wouldn't know how to explain it to you, someone who wasn't there, but…to me, it was the look that showed Takashi had it in him to be a leader if he truly desired to be. "I understand where you're coming from, I'm sure we all do. Your concern for the safety of your friends is justified, but we can't just agree with every single course of action one of us thinks is best, because then we won't get anywhere, priorities need to be straightened out. Now, Takagi-san is right, you won't last long at all out there in the streets without some idea of where they could be. Now while I am agreeing with her logic that does not mean that we're not going to help you out." He explained as I simply looked at each and every one of my fellow survivors.

"Ok, then what are you suggesting, Takashi?" I asked him, eyebrow raised, hoping that this wouldn't lead to further fighting, because I'm sure we all knew that time was running short with each minute we were wasting in this office. "What I'm suggesting, is that we simply go to whichever of our homes are closest, and gradually spread out with each stop. With that in mind, how far away is your home, Bjarte-san?" he asked in as calm a manner as I'm sure he could at this moment. I could only sigh when I answered him. "When I talked with them, they told me that in the confusion, the apartment caught fire. They said they were in the streets, on their way here. A few months ago, I had shown them the quickest route to this school after my very first day, so they do know where to go, so none of you would have to worry about us getting lost or going in circles." I told them all, even though deep down, I didn't feel as optimistic as I was letting on.

"If you were able to talk to them through your cell phone, why can't you just try to again? Just because you temporarily lost signal doesn't mean you lost it permanently." Busujima-san suggested, leaning against the wall with her wooden sword held firmly in both her hands. If I hadn't felt incredibly stupid before in my life,, this was definitely the one time I did. "Well, that's the thing. When I lost signal, I was so angry and scared, I sort of…threw it against the wall and destroyed it."

I could practically feel everybody's aggravation and disappointment radiating in the room, and I'm sure Takagi was trying to hold in the urge to call me the biggest idiot in the room as payback for my yelling at her, but before I was able to lower my head in utmost shame, Takashi suddenly reached into his pocket and held out his own cell phone in front of me. "You can use mine. Rei and I had tried using it earlier today when we were on the roof. We were able to get in contact with her dad, but he couldn't hear us on our end before we lost our signal as well. I mean, it's at least worth a shot." He said as I looked at him with surprise. Smiling for the first time in what felt like months, I nodded my head in appreciation and took the phone from his hand and quickly dialed in the number, waiting for an answer. "Well, here goes nothing." I said quietly to everyone as I heard the first ring. Second ring…third ring…fourth ring…then suddenly I heard that beloved click again.

"**Bjarte? Hur många är detta? Hallo? Vem är det?"** (5) I heard Fritjof's panicking voice on the other end again. I briefly glanced at the screen of the phone and saw I had a very weak signal. I needed to make this count. **"Fritjof, lytte til, det er mig, Bjarte. Lytt veldig nøye til mig, hvor er du rett nå?"** (6) I asked, and it was several anxious moments before I heard him again. **"Jag är inte säker på gatan namn, men jag kan se på toppen av din skola bara ett par block bort från där vi står. Vi "rubrik finns just nu så bara stanna kvar, okej?"** (7) he spoke hurriedly, and this news made me both want to jump for joy that they were relatively close, and at the same time it made me want to scream in horror that they were just that much closer to this deathtrap we were stuck in.

"What's going on?" I heard Rei ask as everyone else seemed to be getting whatever equipment they had together. "They're only a couple blocks away from here, they said they can see the top of the school from where they are and they're making their way here now." I quickly explained to them all as I got back onto the phone, hearing Ditlev and Alpi talking urgently amongst each other in the background before Fritjof came back up.

"**Bjarte, tala med mig. Det är inte er antal! Vad helvetet är? Jag hörde då en röst på din slutet! Vars med er?"** (8) He asked as I could hear Ditlev grunt in the background, followed by the sound of something getting smashed to the ground. **"Jeg løp inn i noen andre overlevende her på skolen. Vi er alle skjul ut i fakultet kontor rett nå. Fritjof, vi er alle planlegging på gjør et løp for en av de busser i skolen parkering loddkasting. Uansett hvor du er, bare opphold der og vi vil komme og få deg!"** (9) I spoke urgently as I could now hear Alpi grunting in what sounded like effort, followed by Ditlev screaming, and I could hear the sound of several empty moans sounding through the air, and I could make out the constant sound of running and panting on their end.

"**Vi kan inte stanna där vi Bjarte! Dessa monster är överallt, vi "rubrik till din skola nu! De bakom oss!"** (10) I could hear Fritjof yelling, and at that instant, I suddenly heard a deafening blast like what I had heard the last time on the phone, but this time, I could also hear it just outside the window. Everybody heard it as they all crowded to the windows. **"Fritjof, hva er at lyd? Hva bare skjedd? Er Alpi og Ditlev ok?"** (11) I asked as I looked out through the blinds, looking for any sign of them. When I didn't hear an immediate answer, I was almost about to scream it at him, until he suddenly came back.

"**De böter. Vi bara hamnade i en stor grupp av dessa saker på en dragning, så vi var tvungna att framskapa igenom några av dem. Ditlev och Alpi har kunnat kämpa mot några av dem, men mer och mer rättvist att komma och jagar efter oss! Vi nästan på din skola."** (12) He answered, sounding completely out of breath as I could still hear the sound of their running, but suddenly the sound cut off and I couldn't hear anyone or anything. My eyes going wide, I looked at the screen of the phone, and all I could see there was that I had lost the connection again. Bowing my head down, I held my arm out for Takashi to take his phone back as I turned and made my way for the door.

"They're still alive. I know they're still alive. They're still making their way here, and with any luck, maybe we won't have to go looking for them." I said in what was barely above a whisper as I clutched tightly onto the handle of my machete. I could hear all the others grabbing their own weapons and supplies and making their way for the door as well, and soon Takashi was standing at my side, the steel bat held low at his side as he unlocked the door and looked back at us all. I looked over my shoulder, looking out past the window to the microbuses at the nearby parking lot.

"I don't suppose anyone besides Marikawa-sensei knows how to drive?" I asked with a hint of a nervous smirk, and it faded as soon as it arrived when nobody answered. "Alright then. Marikawa-sensei, do you know how to drive something as big as a bus?" I asked again, and the concern evident on her face didn't really help lighten the mood. "Well, it can't be that much different from driving a car, so we'll find out when we get there." she answered, not exactly sounding confident either. Without another word, I walked to the board with all the car keys, and grabbed one from a set titled 'School Microbuses' and tossed it to her, then I was back at the door, my hands tightening in anxiety as I braced myself for the moment. I only sighed as I turned to look at Takashi, and we only looked at each other for a moment. "Despite what I said earlier, I'm willing to follow all of you the whole way" I whispered, and he only smiled slightly and nodded his head in understanding as we both turned to the door.

"The parking lot is closest if we leave through the front entrance. Now let's go!" With that, the door was slid open, and we were all making our way down the halls in an instant, tightly knit together. Just looking at all the people around me at that moment, I'm sure we all felt like the definitive ragtag group of misfits…and in my opinion, it was one of the best feelings there was. It wasn't long after we were finally out of the staff room and down the halls, making our way across the outside bridge to the adjacent school building, when we had heard the faint sound of fighting. I'm not sure if I was the only one acting out of instinct, but we all made our way to the source, and we soon found it. There were even more survivors, four students, two girls and two boys, cornered on the middle floor of one of the school stairwells that led down to the actualy schoolgrounds. There was a large number of the dead, surrounding them, all over the stairs, and one of the boys was trying to fight them off with a baseball bat, but he wasn't doing a very good job, he was moving very rough and clumsily.

We all looked at each other, and none of us said a word. I'm positive we were all thinking the same thing. Taking care to speak quietly just in case, I looked at my fellow survivors. "So...does anyone have anything about these...things they'd like to share?" I asked nervously. Despite all the things I had seen up to this point, you don't ever really get used to what could become lethal action.

Busujima-san was the first to speak up, keeping her wooden sword tucked in her arms. "Well, just so long as you don't let Them grab you, They're pretty weak. You can just push Them out of the way pretty easily." We all nodded in understanding, then Takagi was the next. "I found out They only react to sound. They can't see, and They don't even react to physical contact, so just so long as we remain quiet, they won't notice any of us." Now that was something we were all really glad to hear. That would definitely make surviving out there in the streets a whole lot easier than I had previously thought. With those words in mind, we all got ready to move.

Slowly making my way to the top of the stairs, surprisingly, none of the dead noticed me at all as I walked, I unsheathed my blade, and readied myself. Taking a deep breath, I immediately launched myself from the top of the stairs, the sheer adrenaline making me launch my foot out in midair, connecting with the back of one of Their heads, send it toppling down, taking a few others with it. I heard several _clicks_ from the top of the stairs, and just like that, four of Them were down, giving the group of four survivors a little breathing room. I was impressed. Hirano-san was a damn good shot with that makeshift nailgun of his.

Like a shot, Busujima-san, Takashi and Rei were down the stairs alongside me, Busujima-san simultaneously taking three out with what looked like a single swing of her sword, Rei either impaling the stragglers on the stairs through the head with her makeshift spear, or stabbing them and throwing them over the railing of the stairs, tumbling to the floor below. Once Takashi landed on the his feet beside Busujima-san, smashing one of Their skulls with a downward swing of his bat, I let my momentum take me, and I immediately swung my machete upwards, slicing off one of the zombies' arms, and lodging my blade halfway through its skull. I immediately kicked it in the torso, freeing my weapon, allowing me to take a step forward, and I swung at another one, getting my blade stuck halfway through its neck, but I let the strength from my swing push it over the side of the stairs, collapsing to the floor. It was way too close a call though, because I nearly lost my weapon in the process, but thankfully it freed itself. All the while through this, I could hear all those _clicks _from Hirano-san, taking down each of Them with every single shot, and as soon as it had started, the fight was over, and it was just us and our four new fellow survivors.

I had to catch my breath as my heart kept racing as Hirano-san, Marikawa-sensei and Takagi made their back to us, as Takashi, Rei, Busujima-san and I regrouped together, the four new survivors looking at us with shock and awe. "Have any of you been bitten?" Busujima-san immediately asked once we were all together. "No, we're all okay." the one with the baseball bat answered, his voice shaking, and just like that, we were all on our way down the stairs. Within minutes, we found ourselves in the main entrance hall to the school, and just as I had feared, the room was crawling with the shambling numbers of the dead. We all hid behind the blocks of lockers so that They wouldn't see us.

Takashi, Hirano-san, the two boys and I were hiding behind one while Rei, Takagi, Busujima-san, Marikawa-sensei and the two girls hid behind the ones opposite us while Takashi and Rei were closest to the edges. Takashi peeked out the corner to see just how many of those things there were. It would've been easy if the damn things were making that dreadful moan They did back at the start, but it was deathly quiet now, and all we could hear was the shuffling of Their feet.

"There's a ton of Them out there." Takashi whispered, a very uneasy look in his eyes as Takagi peeked her head out from behind Rei. "They can't see us, so there's no need to hide." she whispered, clearly agitated. "Then prove it, Takagi." Takashi retorted, and the fact that she immediately sank back behind Rei showed that she wasn't going to do it no matter how much we'd ask.

"Even if Takagi-san's theory is true, it's too dangerous for all of us to move out of the room altogether." Hirano-san quickly chimed in. Busujima-san bowed her head and leaned against the lockers, her head bowed down in thought. "That is true, but if just stay here, if They somehow found us, we'd be too clustered together here in order to fight." she whispered grimly, and we all were beginning to feel really uneasy where we were now. "So then...what do you suggest we do?" I asked nervously, my hand once again reaching for my machete handle. If this was going where I thought it was, it wouldn't hurt to get it ready.

"One of us needs to go out there and clear Them out so we can make our getaway." Takashi replied, and I could see his fist was clenching, not out of anger, but fear. "You mean, like live bait?" Hirano-san asked nervously, and just the thought of such a plan made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "If Takagi-san's theory turns out to be wrong...then yes." Takashi answered, and I was now completely against where this idea was headed, even moreso than just seconds before.

"Takashi...what are you thinking of doing right now?" I asked with evident worry. Instead of answering me, he turned his attention towards the girls on the other side. "I'll go out there and clear a path." he announced, and the looks of horror on everyone's face, especially Rei, was what pushed me to speak out. Laying my hand on his shoulder, I said: "Takashi, no. If anyone should do this, I should." in the most serious tone I'd ever done, when suddenly Busujima-san spoke out as well. "I should do it." she offered, getting her sword at the ready.

Calmly taking my hand off his shoulder, Takashi slowly shook his head and clutched the handle of his bat in both his hands. "No. I need both of you, no...all of you at the ready in case anything goes wrong. Just keep watch out in case anything goes wrong, alright?" he asked with the faintest of smiles as he began to make his way around the corner. I just couldn't let this happen. If it wasn't for the fact that he was my friend, it was for one other really big reason. I grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him back around the corner, and before he could say anything in protest, I looked him straight in the eyes and spoke as everyone looked in surprise.

"Takashi, listen to me. I know you feel obligated to do this, feeling that the leader needs to take all the risks while his teammates wait on the sidelines. However, you've forgotten one very important thing. Earlier, you told me that Hisashi had gotten bitten and turned into one of those bastards shambling about out there. Now seeing as he was Rei's boyfriend, I can only imagine how much a loss like that must've hurt her." I explained with my teeth clenched, trying to remain as quiet, yet as serious as I could, and once I had brought up Hisashi, I knew I had hit a point with him as his expression softened.

"Now I may be wrong, but in the past, whenever I saw the three of you together, I couldn't help but think that you were maybe a bit...jealous, for lack of a better word. Now I won't go on anymore about this. All I'm trying to say is, out of anybody here, the one person Rei needs the most right now is you. If you go out there, and you die as well, who knows what could happen to her. She needs you right now, and that's why I think that I should go instead." I finally finished, waiting for him to let me know it was alright for me to let go now. After a minute, his face looking deep in thought, he finally nodded his head in understanding, and I took my hand off his shoulder.

Without a word, I slowly unsheathed my machete and began to make my way out towards the main room when I suddenly felt a hand grasp onto my wrist. I looked down and was a bit surprised to see Rei was clutching onto my wrist, the same look of worry she had for Takashi only moments before, evident in her eyes. Absolutely none of us said anything, and all I could do was look right back at her. I honestly have no idea even now what I was trying to convey to her; if I was just trying to tell her we'd all be fine, or I'd be fine, or that she and Takashi would be alright, but whatever it was, it convinced her to reluctantly let go of my arm, and I continued to make my way out there. I felt my skin rise in goosebumps as I continued to slowly make my way out towards the center of the entrance hall. The sharp orange glow of the evening sun shined right through the glass doors, hiding several of Them in the shadows, while the other shuffled about aimlessly, there pale white eyes staring off into the distance.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, feeling the freezing sweat on my brow as one of the dead slowly approached me directly, his jaw hanging open, an empty moan rattling from his throat. I took in a deep breath as he came closer and closer and bumped into my arm, and for an instant, I could see my life flashing before my eyes, waiting for those cold hands to clutch onto my arm, and those bloodied jagged teeth sinking into my throat...but in the next heartbeat, he was gone, and just kept shambling about as if he hadn't even seen me at all.

I exhaled through my nose, my heart pounding painfully against my chest as I let the truth wash over me; Takagi-san was right, they can't see us, they practically don't even feel us. Smiling, I looked to the floor. At my feet was a stray shoe lying in the center of the room. I slowly made my way towards it, and had to mentally calm myself once I saw there was a bloody stump sticking out of it. Taking another deep breath, I grabbed onto the shoe, and with all the strength I could muster, I threw it down the opposite hall. The resulting sound from impact with one of the lockers, immediately drew all Their attention, and they immediately made their way towards the hall en masse, dozens of them on both sides of me, causing me to go completely stiff with fear, and hope that they wouldn't actually notice me.

I opened my eyes after several seconds, and let out a sigh of relief when the room was now completely empty. Turning back to the lockers, I saw Takashi was looking around the corner, and I gave him the thumbs up that it was okay to get moving. Almost in single file, they all made their way towards me, and once we were all together, we made our way for the doors to the outside. Once I felt that cool evening air greet me, it almost felt like all my troubles were miles away. The smell of smoke was still in the air, but nowhere near as thick as it had been this morning. Once I saw just how close the parking lot really was, I almost wanted to cheer. At least, that is until I heard a sound that made me go completely still with fear. A single metallic _clang._

I turned back to look at what just happened, and I saw the other boy from the four we had rescued, carrying what looked like a shuffleboard stick, and it had just hit against one of the metal door frames. For an instant, I nearly wanted to go over there and break both his arms, but that's when I heard the distant wall of moans sound out throughout the school grounds, and that's when I knew...we were fucked.

"RUN!" Takashi yelled out, causing us all to break into a sprint for the buses. The panic I felt as dozens of Them seemed to come out of the woodwork towards us caused me to accidentally trip on a mutilated torso lying in the middle of the road, and as I tried to get back on my feet, I saw one of Them standing right over me, and when nobody came to fight him off, I felt like I was finally at the end of the line. He stretched his bloody hands out towards me and began to lunge, a soulles groan emanating from a hole in his neck.

_BAM!_ I suddenly heard ring through the air, and at that very same instant, the zombies' head exploded, splattering a vile mixture of blood, cartilage and brains all over my uniform and my face. I hurriedly wiped some of the mess off my face, and when I opened my eyes, I couldn't believe what I saw.

Kneeling, at the opposite end of the schoolgrounds standing right at the entrance gate, was Alpi, with a smoking sniper rifle in his hands, really old looking one as well. He wasn't alone either. Standing right beside him was Ditlev, clutching a fire axe in his hands; and Fritjof, completely unarmed.

I was absolutely speechless, I was unable to bring myself to move. I could only look right back at them as Alpi got back onto his feet, and they all three began to run towards me. Feeling tears run from my eyes and down my face, I immediately followed suit and ran right back towards them, and with all three of us laughing joyfully, we all met each other in a massive group hug.

"**Fritjof, Ditlev, Alpi, jeg kan ikke tro det! Jeg kan ikke tro det, du alle levende!"** (13) I shouted out as I couldn't help but cry harder as I looked at all three of their faces, faces I'd never thought I'd get to see again. "**Vi sa vi kunne få her for å få deg, vi betydde det! Vi kan ikke fortelle deg hvor glade vi er at du ok, mann!**_**" **_(14) Ditlev answered, trying to wipe tears of his own from his face as Alpi gave me a hearty slap on the back. "**Hän on oikeassa. Me törmäsi niin monet niistä asioita tänne, mietimme, jos olisimme tuhlaamme aikaa tai ei. Katselen sinua, näen olimme huolissamme turhaan.**" (15) Alpi said with a chuckle as he looked over my shoulder and suddenly brought his rifle back up and fired a shot right by my ear. The left side of my head was ringing, but I was still able to hear Fritjof's talk through his tearful babbling.

"**Bjarte... jag är så glad över du bra! Det fanns så många av dessa saker bakom oss när vi senast hörde från er... och när vi såg hur många av dessa saker och ting i fronten på skolan..."** (16) he was babbling, hardly able to keep from crying, but I only put my hand on his shoulder as I motioned for Ditlev and Alpi to follow me. I could see more and more of Them were coming from the school gate, and we couldn't afford to stay here talking. "**Fritjof, det er OK. Vi er alle tilbake sammen nå. jeg også har en hel gjeng av andre overlevende her med mig. Du gutta må komme med. Vi går til å ta en av de busser. At måte, vi ikke trenger å bekymre håndteringen med flere av disse monstre lenger." **(17) I explained to him as we all four began to run towards where all the others had gone.

Within moments we were all at the buses, and Hirano-san had already gotten one of the windows rolled down, aiming his nailgun out the opening, waiting for any of the dead to get too close to the bus. "**Du gutta kan bare slappe av, disse folk er alle troverdig, jeg kan allerede forteller deg at mig. Jeg er sikker på at den Japanske du gutta lært vil være nok til å snakke." **(18) I explained to them as we all made our way onto the bus, getting Fritjof, Ditlev, and Alpi into seats at the front. Nobody else had seemed to notice them yet. I was about to make my way for the door to tell Busujima-san to get in as she fought off a few lone zombies from the bus. Suddenly, Ditlev grabbed onto my arm, forcing me to look down at him as he smirked and jabbed a thumb back towards Alpi, who had already had his own window rolled down and was aiming his rifle out.

"**Man behøver ikke at bekymre sig mig og Fritjof. Det er Alpi de behøver at bekymre sig. Han sagde ikke engang den ulejlighed at lære de sprog, han altid stole på os det, huske det?"** (19) he muttered, and that's when I remembered it. I smacked myself in the forehead, how could I have forgotten? The only reason Alpi came with us to Japan in the first place was because he'd be all alone without us. He didn't bother to learn Japanese and relied on the three of us to speak for him whenever we had gone out. I mentally cursed myself as I motioned for Busujima-san to get onto the bus. As she got one, I looked at the back of the bus and counted everyone except for two. One of the girls and one of the boys we had rescued were missing.

"Busujima-san, there's two people missing. What happened?" I asked in urgency, and the only response I got from her, was a bowed head of remorse. That told me all I needed to know. I could only bow my head and collapse into the seat beside Ditlev. **"Gud dæmning det." **I muttered barely above a whisper as I sheathed my machete back into its sheath.

Suddenly, I heard the only remaining boy from our group of four call out to us that there were more survivors coming. We all immediately turned our attention towards the windows, and sure enough, there were more people coming, and I could tell one of them was a teacher by the black suit he wore. "Who is that in front of them?" I heard Takashi ask, only for Busujima-san to answer instantly. "It's Shidou-sensei from class 3-A."

Once that name had escaped from her lips, Rei reacted in a way I wasn't expecting in the slightest bit. "We don't have to save him! Just leave him out there!" she exclaimed, clutching onto takashi's arm as he had started to make his way to open the bus door. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was actually suggesting, or rather demanding we leave somebody out there to get torn apart by Them. Before they were able to argue any further, Marikawa-sensei had already gotten the door open, and that very same Shidou-sensei and his group of other students had made their way into the bus, but I couldn't help but notice one of his students wasn't with them.

Before anyone could say anything, Marikawa-sensei had gotten the engine started, and before we knew it, we were speeding across the schoolgrounds, with several hard bumps lining the ride towards the gate; bumps I could only assume was made up of zombies that were in our way. It was an assumption proven correct when I heard Marikawa-sensei yelling to herself that They weren't human. There was a violent crash immediately afterwards which sent all of us flying forward into the seats in front of us once we went right through the gate. Immediately afterwards, we were back to a stable ride going at a rather reckless speed down the street. I breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed back into my seat. We were finally free. We had escaped that graveyard that was our high school, and we were in safe quarters...or at least, that's what I had hoped.

I looked back over my seat once everyone was relatively calm, and to my concern, Alpi was still staring outside his window, clutching his rifle for dear life in his hands. He had been staring out that window the entire ride. When I asked Fritjof what was wrong with Alpi, he didn't know any more than I did. All he said was that Alpi had been like that ever since he saw that Shidou-sensei approach our bus from the school.

As we made our way down the street towards the city, I looked at both Ditlev and Fritjof. Ditlev's axe was splattered with blood along with his face, and Fritjof was a mess as well, whereas Alpi was without a doubt the cleanest of the four of us. I looked again at Alpi's rifle and I honestly couldn't believe it. It really was an old Mosin Nagant sniper rifle, and the initials S.H. Was carved into the butt. I couldn't help but think about all the doubts we had about Alpi's ancestry stories. He really did inherit the actual rifle of Simo Häyhä after all. How he was able to get that thing into the country was anybody's guess.

Turning my attention back to Fritjof and Ditlev, I couldn't help but ask what happened to them. Ditlev then had gone on to explain how he had found the fire axe back at the apartment. It was in one of those emergency glass cases, and he was the first one to think of getting it. Fritjof explained how he was too scared to think of actually getting something to defend himself with, so it had been up to Alpi and Ditlev to protect him as they made their way to the school. When I asked about the blood that Fritjof was covered in, he went on to explain about how the last time I had called him, he had ended up tripping, and Ditlev had to save him from a zombie that had pinned Fritjof to the ground. I didn't ask anymore after that. They had a hard enough time as it was, I didn't need to keep asking about it.

When Ditlev asked about me, i went on to tell the three of them what had happened at the school when the announcement had been made. I told them about the panic, the violence, the unrelenting terror I felt when I first realized what was truly happening, the worry I had for the three of them, and what I had gone through when I first ran into my fellow survivors. In the process, I also told them about what I had heard on the news, that the dead were rising and attacking people all over the world. I made sure to tell them that the situation had so far been kept under control back home in Scandinavia, and that really helped to put our minds at ease, but deep down, I think none of us felt that it would last long.

After a few moments of unsettling silence, I decided now was as good a time as ever to introduce the three of them to the new friends I had made in this little journey of survival we were all in. I was able to introduce Hirano-san, Takagi-san, Takashi and Busujima-san, but when it came to Rei, she seemed to be in too foul a mood to talk at all. I had a feeling it had something to do with that Shidou-sensei. Ever since we had gotten out of the school, I couldn't help but notice that he kept talking to the lot of us that were actual students, although I couldn't tell what they were saying. I wasn't able to introduce Marikawa-sensei seeing as she was at the wheel, and speeding through the hauntingly empty streets on top of that.

After a few minutes, we ended up speeding past a solitary convenience store on the side of the road, smashing into a solitary zombie that was shambling across the street. It was after that, someone finally said something. It was one of the students that had come with Shidou-sensei, some real street punk-looking guy with brown and blonde hair. He looked like he was ready to just start beating on somebody at any instant, so me and Ditlev stayed on our guard while Fritjof kept himself huddled against the wall of his seat, and Alpi didn't take his glare off of Shidou-sensei who sat at the very back of the bus.

"I'm telling you! We'll only be in danger if we keep going like this! Anyway..." he suddenly stopped as he kept looking around at all of us. I looked and saw we had finally made it into the city itself. I looked back at the punk who had been yelling, and he was looking like he was simply trying to pick one of us out of the lot. Finally, he ended up pointing an accusatory finger at Takashi, who only looked at him with a slight shade of contempt. "Why should we have to go along with Komuro and these guys anyway! You're the only ones who decided to go back into town! Shouldn't we have tried to find a safe place to hide in the dorms or in the school!" he continued to rant, and I could already tell we were all getting sick of his attitude. I only glanced at Takashi, Hirano-san, Busujima-san and Ditlev for a second each, each time getting a nod of approval should we have decided to take action.

Suddenly, the bus came to a screeching hault, the tires squealing as Marikawa-sensei had slammed on the brakes. When I turned to look forward, I saw a small black car speeding across in front of us, just barely missing colliding with us. I looked out the window with Ditlev, and we both saw a number of small cars had violently collided with each other all along the other streets to our sides. Suddenly, another one of Shidou's students spoke up, this one a much weaker looking boy with messy black hair.

"He's right. If we keep this up, we're only putting ourselves in danger! We should hole ourselves up somewhere, like that convenience store we just drove by!" he spoke out, but the moment he had finished I heard Fritjof cry out: "Look!"

We all looked out our windows, and we could all see a helicopter flying off in the distance, just above us. However, there was a rather horrific sight to go with it. There were a couple people hanging onto the legs of the chopper, and suddenly one of those people lost their grip, and came plummeting down to the earth, right in front of the bus to be exact, and I'm pretty sure Fritjof lost it on the floor beneath his seat when the person splattered like an egg against the asphalt, and I swear some of the girls in the back were screaming; I don't even remember anymore.

Immediately after that, Marikawa-sensei got on the gas again, and we were continuing on our way. It wasn't even a minute later when the blonde punk had gotten all fired up again, and just a glance showed me that Alpi was getting ready to just flatten this guy, and I wouldn't blame him either. I could tell trouble was on its way, and this time, it wasn't the dead; it could even be worse: distrust among survivors.

"It's not too late! Plus, I..." suddenly before he could continue, the brakes screeched again, and this time, Marikawa-sensei looked back over her seat and shouted: "That's enough! I can't drive like this!" Leaving the lot of us speechless. However, it didn't last long when that punk caught Takashi looking at him, and that's when things all went to hell.

"What're you looking at, Komuro! Huh! You wanna pick a fight!" he snarled, but Takashi didn't say a thing in response, however Busujima-san merely replied: "What do you want to do then?" This caught that punk off-guard and in response, all he could do was point back at Takashi and spit out with utter posion in his tone: "I don't like him! Acting like he's the big shit! It pisses me off!" Just when I thought things were going to fall apart right there, Takashi finally said something. "What are you getting at, pal? When did I ever say anything at all to you?"

That suddenly made it all make sense to me. This guy wasn't picking on Takashi out of spite; it was actually disaster survivor psychology. When someone is scared and confused, they'll eventually delve into anger, and try to find someone to channel that anger towards. As much as that made sense, that didn't make this situation any better, especially when I saw the punk throw his arm back, getting ready to sock Takashi right in the face.

Suddenly, before any of us were able to make a move to stop him, Rei was suddenly out of her seat, and before blondie had even realized what happened, she had swung her makeshift spear, nailing him right in the gut, no doubt knocking the wind out of him. I think I could even feel that hit from where I was sitting. While it had definitely winded him and got him onto his knees, he was getting ready to get back up, and for a moment, I feared he was now going to take all that aggression out on Rei...but then Alpi got out of his seat and before the punk could get himself back together, Alpi had slammed the butt of his rifle right into his face, and I think I could've heard his nose break from the power of it. Either way, he didn't get back up.

Rei and Alpi gave each other a look, followed by a slight nod of approval, and he even got one from Takashi as well, but then a single pair of hands started clapping from the back, and I saw it was Shidou, who had gotten up and was slowly making his way towards them, and the way I saw Alpi's hands clenching, it made me very, very uneasy. He only ever got this way around people who were really bad news.

"Most impressive. Superb teamwork Miyamoto-kun, Komuro-san, gaijin-san. However, if fights like this are going to break out repeatedly, then it only serves to prove my point." he announced, and just hearing his voice, I could begin to feel a similar dislike towards him, although I wasn't able to put my finger on why. Something about this guy just really unsettled me. I could tell Fritjof and Ditlev were getting the same feeling as well.

"That's why we need a leader. One of us." he spoke in a soft manner, leaning on Takagi-san's seat, causing her to inch away, straightening her glasses once more. "I suppose there's only one candidate for the job?" she asked, and that response immediately put me at official unease. "i'm a teacher, Takagi-san, you're just a student. That alone speaks volumes towards my merit." I could practically feel the air grow frigid cold as he continued.

"How about it, everyone?" he asked as he turned back to face his students, a warm smile on his face. "If you go with me, I will do whatever I can to keep all our problems at bay." Soon after that, I couldn't believe it. Everyone that had come with him, and even the two remaining students we had saved, were all aplauding him. With a bow, he turned back to face us, and the grin on his face, and those venomous yellow eyes of his behind his glasses nearly made me sick. "Then it is decided. By a majority vote, I am now the official leader."

Before I was able to count how many of us there were, Fritjof suddenly stood up along with Ditlev, who suddenly exclaimed: "That's not true. Eight people voted for you, but there's ten of us, and we didn't vote for you! You're not the leader!"

It disturbed me that Shidou didn't look in the least bit deterred. "Impressive Japanese, gaijin. However, I am a teacher, and a teacher only receives votes from his students. You lot are not students, therefore your votes wouldn't mean a thing either way. So I'm afraid your argument is invalid. I remain the leader by majority vote. Starting now..." Suddenly, before he was able to continue, Rei started making her way towards Marikawa-sensei, a look of absolute rage on her face. "Marikawa-sensei, open the doors! I'm getting off here!" she exclaimed, and before Marikawa-sensei could argue, Rei had turned the lever herself, and immediately jumped from the bus once the doors were opened.

Takashi immediately took off after her. "Rei, wait! What are you doing?" he asked in confusion and panic. Me, Fritjof and Ditlev made our way to the door behind takashi, and Rei immediately turned on her heels and shot an angry glare at Takashi. "I'm not staying anywhere near that man! I told you you would regret saving him! I told you you would regret it!" she shouted.

In the back, I looked and saw Shidou place his hand against his forehead in mock concern. "Well, if she says she doesn't want to be a part of the group, then I guess there's nothing I can do about it." he responded, and his fake emotion made me grit my teeth in anger. I really didn't like this guy. Before I could say anything, Takashi jumped off after Rei. "Takashi, Rei, hold on! Can't you just wait until we actually get into town! It's too dangerous out here!" I shouted after them, when suddenly, something none of us expected happened...Alpi jumped off the bus as well and started to follow them, his rifle slung over his shoulder. This we couldn't ignore and we all immediately took off after them, Busujima-san following closely after us.

We followed after them until we finally caught up at an intersection in front of a tunnel. I grabbed onto Alpi's shoulder, and he immediately threw my hand off and turned to look at us, anger evident in his eyes. "**Alpi, hva gjør du?" **(20) I asked him, but he answered before I could barely finish.

"**Tuo tyttö on oikeassa! Tämä mies on on roskaväkeä, ja en ole pysyä lähellekään häntä! Selvä!" **(21) he shouted in anger as he looked back at the bus with the utmost contempt. Fritjof stepped in immediately afterwards. "**Vad är ni talar om? Hur kan ni vara så positivt om detta?**" (22) he asked with concern, and that's when Alpi finally spoke out the truth, something we never expected, even from someone like Shidou.

"**Minä näin sen. Kun hän ja hänen paljon tuli tähän kouluun, yksi hänen oppilaistaan lauennut. Tiedätkö mitä se paskiainen teki? Hän potkaisi häntä aivan edessä, ja jätti hänet saamaan repimässä niitä asioita, ja saatoin nähdä hänen kasvonsa! Ei ollut yksi pienintäkään katumusta nähtäväksi! Tämä mies on hirviö, te. Jos olet älykäs, tulet kanssamme." **(23)

We were all speechless, and I couldn't even bring myself to say any of what Alpi had just told us. The idea that Shidou, the man pretending to be our new fearless leader, practically murdered one of his own students in sheer cold blood for being an inconvenience to escape...it was downright chilling.

Before we could say anything, I suddenly heard the sound of tires screeching coming from the distance. We all looked to the street at our right, and we couldn't believe it. There was a bus speeding down the road, completely out of control, and I could just barely make out why. The windows and the windshield were covered with blood, and there were shadows writhing about inside. Suddenly, the bus crashed into a car in the middle of the road, sending it flipping forward onto its side, and then crashing down onto the road, sliding on its side, right towards us.

Acting solely on reaction, me, Fritjof, Ditlev, and Busujima-san leaped back towards our bus, while Alpi, Takashi, and Rei jumped into the tunnel to the left, right when the bus slammed right into the tunnel. It took several seconds for me to collect my surroundings again and get back on my feet. When I looked, I could see that the bus was completely engulfed in flames, and worst of all, there were bodies climbing out of the shattered windows and the windshield, all of them burning.

Just when I felt we'd have to fight them off, thankfully, they all just started dropping to the ground one by one. We all then ran up as close to the burning wreckage as we could, and I could just barely make out through the flames, Takashi, Rei and Alpi were okay. Takashi then ran up towards us, no doubt as close to the wreckage as he could get as well. He then shouted out to us, which I could barely make out through the sound of the fire. Fortunately, Busujima-san didn't seem to have a problem.

"Komuro-kun! Are you okay?" she yelled out. "I'm fine! Listen, all of you! Be sure to tell the others as well, let's meet up at the East police Station, alright!" he yelled out in response. "What time?" Fritjof suddenly answered. "Five o'clock in the afternoon! If not today, then tomorrow at the same time!" Takashi finished.

I nodded my head in approval, knowing that we finally had an official game plan. I wasn't all that familiar with this city, but there was no doubt that everyone else with us, Hirano-san, Busujima-san, Takagi-san and Marikawa-sensei would know where to go. Before I was able to call out to Alpi what the plan was, Ditlev suddenly grabbed onto my shoulder yelling out: "EVERYBODY RUN! That bus is leaking gas! It's gonna blow!" and without wasting any time, we all started to run as fast as we could, and just like Ditlev had warned, there was suddenly, a deafening explosion right behind us, so strong that it sent all four of us sprawling to the ground.

Once were able to get our heads to stop ringing, and get back on our feet, we made our way back to the bus and got back into our seats. Marikawa-sensei announced she was going to back up and take a different route. As we backed away, I could only look at the flaming mass, and I could only hope that Alpi, Takashi and Rei were alright.

**Hei. **My name is Alpi Jukarainen, and since Bjarte already got all the formalities and pleasantries out of the way, I'll just get right to the point. Right after that boy, Takashi I think Bjarte said his name was, was finished talking to the guys and that girl that was with them, I had smelt a foul odor coming from that flaming bus. It almost instantly registered to me what that smell was, and like a shot, all three of us were hauling ass through that tunnel, and good god, the heat from that blast must've singed the back of my shirt, as well as flung us through the air out the other end of that tunnel.

It took me several seconds to get my head to stop ringing in order to get back on my feet and get my surroundings straight. I was stuck with Takashi and that girl Rei, and to make matters even worse, none of my friends were around to help translate for me, so I was officially the stranger in the strange land so to speak. However, I figured I might be able to get through to them if I tried hard enough.

Once I was sure the two of them had gotten their surroundings right, we all started to make our way forward. We approached a stone set of stairs that made there way up a hill, but I suddenly had heard something. All the times I had gone hunting with my dad back home in Finland had finally paid off. I looked up and before I could say anything, one of those...zombies was falling down the stairs, and had tackled Takashi to the ground. For a second, I didn't know what to do. This one was wearing what looked like a motorcycle helmet, so I actually wasn't able to just smash its skull with a rifle butt, but when I glanced over at Rei who was grabbing a stone block from the border of the hill, I got an idea. Grabbing my rifle, taking the sling off of my shoulders, I immediately held onto the barrel, holding my ancestor's rifle like a club. Taking a few short steps towards it, stepping on only my left foot, I shouted "**Hei, ruma kusipää!****"** (24) and swung my rifle forward, nailing it right in the face, sending it reeling back so it was just sitting on its knees, and with that momentum, Rei immediately swung her stone block down, no doubt obliterating that helmet, but it was enough.

It immediately fell and didn't get back up again afterwards, and me and Rei helped get Takashi back onto his feet. I even remembered to hand him back that baseball bat he had been carrying with him, and I only assume he was saying 'thank you' to me as he nodded and said something like 'arigatou' like that one song by Styx, so I just nodded back and said "**Ei kestä." **(25)

After we were finally back to being our cool, calm, collected selves, Takashi suddenly mentioned something to Rei, and they quickly made their way up the stairs, forcing me to have to chase after them as I slung my rifle back over my shoulder. We soon reached the top of the hill, and believe it or not, there was actually a pretty new looking motorcycle right on the street. Takashi and Rei wasted no time to get it back upright and got on both seats, but there was still a problem. I needed to get a ride as well, and that thing wasn't going to seat three of us, and they knew it as well as they both looked at me, trying to think of a solution. Luckily, I found it. On the other side of the street, there was a lone silver Lexus sitting all by itself, and it wasn't toaled like so many other cars I had seen. In fact, it was completely spotlesss...save for the blood on the asphalt near the open drivers seat.

I quickly made my way towards it, and when I looked inside, I could not believe my luck. The keys were still in the ignition, meaning whoever was using this car was either trying to get out in a serious hurry, or I was lucky enough for the owner to get eaten without pulling out the keys.

Anyway, I got in, and luckily the car had plenty of gas. Once I got the engine started, I gave a thumbs up to let Takashi and Rei know it was okay, and with a nod from each of them, we both took off down the freeway, deeper into the actual city. I made sure to keep an even speed with them so that neither of us would fall behind the other. I didn't know what was awaiting us in there, but I felt just so long as we all three watched each others' back, we'd be just fine.

(1)Danish for: Chapter three: Reunite To Escape

Norwegian for: Mankind is savage at heart. Always has been, always will be.

Norwegian for: My sentiments exactly

Norwegian for: It basically ended as quickly as it had started.

Swedish for: Bjarte? Whose number is this? Hello? Who is this?

Norwegian for: Fritjof, listen, it's me, Bjarte. Listen very carefully to me, where are you right now?

Swedish for: I'm not sure of the street name, but I can see the top of your school from where we are. We're just a few blocks away, so just stay put and we'll be there soon, okay?

Swedish for: Bjarte, speak to me. This isn't not your number! What the hell's going on? I heard a voice on your end! Whose with you?

Norwegian for: I ran into some other survivors here at school. We are all hiding out in the faculty office right now. Fritjof, we are all planning on heading for one of the buses in the school parking lot. Wherever you are, just stay there and we will come and get you!

Swedish for: We can't stay here, Bjarte! Those monsters are everywhere! We're heading to your school now! Just stay where you are!

Norwegian for: Fritjof, what was that sound? What just happened? Are Alpi and Ditlev okay?

Swedish for: They're fine! We just ran into a large group of those things, and the more we fight off, more just keep coming to chase us. We're almost at your school now!

Norwegian for: Fritjof, Ditlev, Alpi, I don't believe it! I can't believe it! You're all alive!

Danish for: When we said we were coming here to get you, we meant it! We can't tell you how glad we are you're okay!

Finnish for: He's right. When we saw how many of those things were here, we were wondering if we were just wasting our time. However, seeing you here, I can see we were worrying for nothing.

Swedish for: Bjarte, I'm so glad you're alright. There were so many of those things everywhere, and when we saw how many of them were in front of the school...

Norwegian for: Fritjof, it's OK. We're all back together now. I also have a whole bunch of other survivors here with me. You guys need to come with us. We're going to take one of the buses. That way, we don't have to worry about dealing with these monsters anymore.

Norwegian for: You guys can just relax, these people are all trustworthy, I can already tell you that myself. I'm sure the Japanese you guys learned will be enough to talk.

Danish for: You don't need to worry about me and Fritjof. It's Alpi you need to worry about. He didn't even bother to learn the language, he always relied on us, remember?

Norwegian for: Alpi, what are you doing?

Finnish for: That girl is right! That man is scum, and I'm not staying anywhere near him, okay!

Swedish for: What are you talking about? How can you be so positive of this?

Finnish for: I saw it. When he and his lot came to us from that school, one of his students tripped. You know what that bastard did? He kicked him right in the face, and left him to get torn apart by those things, and I could see his face! There was not one shred of remorse to be seen! This man is a monster, you guys. If you're smart, you'll come with us.

Finnish for: Hey, ugly fucker!

Finnish for: Don't mention it.

**Oh my god! This is without a doubt the longest chapter, or the longest anything I have ever written during my writing career on . I'm sure this will provide all of you with plenty reading material. I'm not gonna take a break though. I'm done with being a flake, I'm gonna make sure to update this story on a semi-regular basis. I again apologize for all the use of foreign language in this, but it's all for the sake of adding authenticity to this story. Anyway, be sure to read and review, and I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. All my thanks to the music of Darkthrone, Burzum, and Mayhem; for helping me get through the writing process.**


	4. Luku Neljä: Sulje Vaatii Uusia Ystäviä

**Man, I myself almost can't believe how much I'm on a role with this story. I just keep coming up with ideas to stay within the confines of the actual series, but have enough ideas to throw my own originality to the events as well. I'm also really happy to be seeing how much of a response I'm getting from this story with the steadily coming reviews and the international numbers I'm getting. So, as a personal 'thank-you' from me to you all, here's the next chapter. I've also decided to do the non-Scandinavian viewers a favor. From now on, instead of saving the numerous translations for the end of the chapter, I'll instead put the English translation right after each sentence, so as to throw in subtitles in real time at you. Anyway, I already know this chapter won't be as long as the last one, but I trust you'll all enjoy it all the same. **  
**Read and review, and for the Norwegians, Swedes and Danes out there, since I understand your three languages are very similar to each other: Les og gjennomgang, og gjerne si uansett hva du ønsker. **  
**Also for the Finns out there as well: Lue ja uudelleen, ja voit sanoa mitä haluat.**

_Luku Neljä: Sulje Vaatii Uusia Ystäviä (Finnish: Chapter Four: Close Calls With New Friends)_

We drove. We continued to drive for what felt like hours. The streets were completely devoid of all life, and unlike the movies, the roads weren't congested with miles of abandoned cars either. I just kept my eyes focused on the miles of empty freeway ahead of me, the refreshing daytime air breezing against my face as I continued to drive that Lexus as fast as it would go; and all the while, Takashi and Rei were right by my side, burning rubber with that nifty motorcycle of theirs.

I had never thought I'd get the opportunity to get to drive as reckless and free as I did that day, but life is just full of surprises. It was definitely one of the most memorable experiences I had ever since this whole mess had started. Every few minutes I kept looking to my passenger seat to find my beloved ancestors' rifle sitting their, unscathed, completely at my disposal should I have ever needed it, and I knew I would. I won't lie, the whole time, I also couldn't stop thinking about my friends. Thinking about them being stuck just a little while longer with that...vitun käärme ruoho. (fucking snake in the grass.)

It had been a little while since we had first gotten our hands on these nifty little rides, and it wasn't long until we were riding along a large bridge that would take us further into the city. However, after a few seconds, even over the roar of both our engines, I heard that girl Rei start shouting something to Takashi, and when I looked over to see what all the fuss was about, my jaw was agape at what I saw next.

Speeding through the air, right up alongside us for just a split second, there was an actual fighter jet flying low, and as it got closer to us, Rei began to wave at it, no doubt hoping the pilot could see us, although I myself wasn't getting my hopes up, and I'm sure Takashi wasn't either. It just seemed like it would've been too convenient for us to just get rescued by whichever army that jet came from, just like that.

Then just as quickly as it had come it was gone, flying towards the inner city, probably not even noticing us at all. Once it had completely disappeared from sight, I brought my eyes down upon the road again, and I had to slam on my brakes when I saw Takashi skid to a stop right ahead of me. My previous instincts dealing with reckless drivers back home in Espoo nearly made me want to yell out angrily by force of habit, but this time I was able to refrain from doing so as we got back up to pace heading into the city.

After a little while, we were well into the city at last, but now we were forced to slow ourselves down considerably. All the wreckage from numerous car crashes that littered the streets were inspiration enough. When the time had come for us to have to maneuver through the various wrecks, Takashi had signaled to me that he would be taking the lead, so I acknowledged him and had to follow whatever direction he went, so as to avoid getting myself stuck or wrecked. I was glad to see at least he had caught on that I didn't speak Japanese and we had unofficially decided on hand signals to communicate at this point.

Once we had reached an intersection, we came to a stop; why, I had no idea, but I could hear Rei starting to raise her voice towards Takashi for some reason I didn't know about. For all I knew they could've been talking about that jet earlier. I know if Id've spoken the language, that's what I would've been asking about. As I waited for Takashi to give me a signal that we would get moving again, I glanced down at the gas for my car. **Lähes tyhjä. Paska.** _(Almost empty. Shit.)_

Looking around to make sure none of those goddamn **zombeja**_ (zombies)_ were around waiting for us, I turned off the engine, got out, and made my way towards their bike. I knew I needed to stay with these guys as long as possible, and that wouldn't happen if I didn't get some gas soon.

Once I had gotten to them, I think Takashi must've looked at his gas at that moment, cause I noticed they weren't in much better shape than I was. I figured if I they might know where a gas station might be nearby, so I just pointed at the gas symbol on their gauge, and then once I had gotten their attention with it, I just nodded back to my car, and I'm pretty sure they got the idea as well seeing as they both nodded with faint smiles to show they understood what I meant; and once I had gotten back in the Lexus, we both continued to make our way down the street. I remember thinking at that one specific point:** Luojan kiitos perus elekieltä** _(Thank god for basic body language)._

For several minutes we had to go at a relatively slow pace through the numerous empty city streets, and I think this had been the first time since it all started that I really took notice of the still silence that had then been hanging over the city. I could still remember all the vibrant sounds of city life from just that very morning, just minutes before everything fell apart, and for the first time in years, I was truly at unease in my surroundings; none of my old friends were there, and we were all officially in a world where you could've gotten killed at any corner.

As we had continued to drive, we all couldn't help but just look at the world around us. Cars abandoned on the sidewalks, not a sign of life anywhere, nothing moving, nothing but the sounds of our engines...and our breathing. One thing that was always there whenever we looked at any of these empty cars or abandoned buildings, was blood. One sight that always stands out in my mind even now, was seeing an abandoned purse lying in a drainage ditch near the sidewalk, and there was blood everywhere in the spot where it lay, and there was a small group of kittens that had no doubt been wandering the streets earlier, and they were all licking at the blood. I couldn't bear to look at it for longer than I did, and I could see Rei shuddering from the sight as well, and I couldn't blame her. It still feels so ridiculous to me sometimes; me, someone who has hunted wolves out in the snowy woodlands near my home, and killed them for food when the winters got especially rough...and something like kittens licking spilled human blood is what makes me nauteous. Well, Fritjof did always say it's the most unexpected things that get to the most unexpected people...for once he was actually right about something.

We went on like this for several more minutes, then I could just make out Rei and Takashi bickering amongst each other again, for whatever reason was anybody's guess to me. I was too preoccupied at that time thinking of how things might've been back home. Bjarte had said this was going on all over the world, and even though he said most of Scandinavia, Finland included, were keeping things under control, it didn't ease my mind at all. I couldn't stop thinking of my family. We lived just on the outskirts of Espoo, which was already far enough removed from Helsinki, the capital city, as it was. If armed forces were fighting this undead infection internationally, it's only natural they would just worry about the big cities where most of the people are. My family lived in remote territory, so who was to say the dead wouldn't be moving in mass numbers in those parts? All the dreadful possibilities were driving me mad with worry.

Suddenly, I heard Rei point out something with excitement in her voice, and when I looked to where her head was turned, I didn't see what the big deal was personally. It was just a solitary police car parked on the street corner. My expectations then were that it had been abandoned like all the cars we passed that weren't demolished in a collision in the middle of the road. Well, I wasn't in any position to dash whatever hopes those two had; and besides, for all we knew, maybe there were some officers nearby who could help get us to some kind of shelter. I glanced over at my trusty rifle sitting on the passenger seat, and looking back at the cop car, I grabbed it and laid it onto its side, blocking it from open view. I turned off the engine to the car and stepped out as Rei and Takashi stopped their bike right at the turn. Neither of them said anything I could hear, so I assumed that meant there was nothing wrong. **Voi, kuinka väärässä olin.** _(Oh, how wrong I was.)_

As I got closer and closer behind them, I could see just what it was that had them so speechless. What I saw, dashed all my hopes for help from the police right out the fucking window. That cop car had been smashed into the side of the building by a runaway truck, and both officers were lying dead in the back seat...and I mean they were actually dead. They weren't writhing around in their seats, trying to climb out so as to come and eat us, they were just sitting there, not making a sound, not moving an inch. I looked down at the asphalt, and there was a large pool of some thick liquid pooled at the bottom of the car, and from the stench of it, I couldn't tell if it was gasoline, blood, or both.

Suddenly, Rei got off the bike and started making her way towards the totaled patrol car; and even when Takashi was yelling after her, no doubt to get her away from it for the leaking gas, she just turned on her heels, and I don't know what she said; but whatever it was, it got him to back down. Then he got off as well and made his way as well. I could only shrug as I turned my back on them, keeping my eyes peeled for if any** zombeja** would show up and see us. The new kind of silence that hung in the air without the rumbling of either of our engines felt very unnatural to me, and rather unsettling as well.

Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me that I was all too familiar with: the sound of the hammer of a gun being pulled back. I immediately turned around, and found Takashi now brandishing a five-shooter. He and Rei were talking to one another again, and all the while it dawned on me that this must have been the reason why Rei went for the wreck in the first place; no matter the country, the police are required to carry a firearm should a violent situation erupt that can't be controlled peacefully, and Japan wasn't an exception.

I merely smirked as Rei put five extra bullets in his hand, and I began to make my way back to the car as they got their bike back into gear. Soon, we were back on the road, and when I looked into my rearview mirror, I noticed there were several of those undead bastards making their way out of the buildings behind us. My knuckles going white on the steering wheel, I looked back down to my rifle, and brought my eyes back to the empty roads. I don't even know why now, but something about seeing those monsters come out from behind, when I had previously thought they were nowhere near us...it left me with a very grim but determined resolve to fight.

After a few minutes, we finally came across a gas station, and it was really good timing as well, because by that point the car was running on fumes. The lights for the actualy gas pumps were still on, so that meant they were still working, but the actualy station itself, the convenience store was completely blacked out inside. Once we had pulled into our respective pumps, I slung the rifle over my back as I got the pump into the car. Acting on impulse, I brought my hand into the pocket of my track pants...and that was when I remembered that I forgot my wallet back at our apartment.

Right then, Takashi and Rei began arguing with each other once again, and by that point, I was getting tired of it, and if only I knew how to communicate that, I would've. I don't know what they were saying, but I had become pretty accustomed to identifying names apart from the rest of their babble, and it sounded like they were arguing about some Hisashi person, I wasn't really paying too much attention. Without even a warning, Takashi had sprung his arm forward, and I thought for a second he was going to hit Rei right in the face, but I just sighed when he motioned his hand in a way that told me that he was asking for some money.

Yeah, it wasn't any business of mine, but for years growing up, my dad and my older brother had taught me to treat women with the utmost respect, no matter who they are to me or someone else, and those lessons stuck with me ever since then, and when I thought he was going to strike her, I had almost wanted to go over and bash him in the back of the head with my rifle butt. Thankfully that wasn't the case, but it did seem like they were at least still bickering with each other. Shi glanced over in my direction, and I figured he must've noticed the convenience store. He said one last thing to Rei and was soon making his way, that baseball bat of his firmly in hand. I decided I might as well go with him, being sure to pull the rifle over my shoulder so it was firmly held in my hands as well.

When we got to the door, I noticed Takashi was about to kick the doors open, and something sparked in me that caused me to lay a hand on his shoulder, shaking my head in disagreement. Lightly pushing him back, I got up in front, and with the butt of my rifle pressed firmly against my shoulder, I slowly pushed the door open and we both quietly made our way inside. It was way too quiet inside this place. At least outside, the only sound that could be heard was the wind blowing through the streets. This however, was just kuolemanhiljaisuus. (dead silence)

Takashi called out something that nearly made me flinch, mainly because we had no idea if there was anybody here, and for all we knew, they wouldn't be so friendly if they found us. I signaled with my hands that I would look around for anybody, and the nod I got in return, I can only assume meant he understood. **Paska**, _(shit)_ at some point, I knew I would need one of the guys to help teach me the language here at some point, cause this whole sign language thing was really getting old for me, probably both of us.

The only place there really was for me to check was in the back where the staff would take breaks and such. I wasn't able to find anything in the bathroom or the managers office. When I made my way to the garage, there was nobody there either. The only thing I took note of was that the garage door was still open, yet there wasn't any blood here, so that must've meant that the employees were able to get away.

I began to make my way back inside, but for a split second, something caught my attention from the corner of my eye. I wouldn't know how to explain it, it was like a glint of light, but not like the light reflected from a rifles' scope, but the kind from something made of metal. It shined for a split second from the outside, but when I turned to look it was gone. I couldn't see the pump station either, just the street the garage would lead out to. Something about that glint of light also sparked a really worried feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew this feeling, became familiar with it during all the hunts I went on with my dad. A terrible feeling nobody wants, but I knew immediately what it was...we were being watched, and not by any **zombeja** either.

I quickly made my way back inside, and the instant I shut the door, I heard a loud crash from where I had left Takashi, and I was instantly hauling ass to the counter. Once I rounded the corner, I nearly had my rifle fully raised and ready to fire when I saw Takashi climbing down from the counter, a demolished cash register all there was to behold...and all the gas money either of us would ever need. **"Voi mies, tämä on enemmän kuin tarpeeksi meille molemmille."** _(Oh man, this is more than enough for both of us.)_ I muttered under my breath as we both took handfuls of the money, shoving it into our pockets.

Then, there was an ear-splitting scream from outside, and Takashi was jumping over the counter and making his way out the door like a shot, screaming out in fear for Rei the whole way. I would have gone out there right alongside him, but I saw what was going on through the windows. Standing before Takashi was a giant of a man; at least in comparison to the three of us. He looked to me, like the Japanese equivalent of those American white kids who listen to too much rap music, half his teeth covered in golden grills, and a very scary look to his eyes that were nearly hidden under the hat he was wearing, and the worst part was that he had his arm around Rei's waist, and he had a switchblade pressed right up against her neck.

I could tell even from my distance that it would take only the slightest twitch, and he could slice her throat right there. I gritted my teeth, brought my rifle back over my shoulder, pressed the butt of it firmly against my shoulder, then I slowly got down onto my knees, then flat onto my stomach, right behind Takashi, my aim going right through the opening in his legs, giving me a clear shot at thelegs of the **panttivankien ottaja.** _(hostage taker)_

I had to slow down my frantic breathing so that I could get a steady shot, and thankfully I was safe in the blackness inside the store, because I assumed he hadn't noticed me yet. The only thing that was in the way now was that the way he was holding onto Rei, her legs were in the way between my single shot and his kneecaps. I needed to wait for the right moment, where she would be safe from harm, and I could blow this fuckers legs right off.

All the while, I could hear Rei struggling against that big ape, and ever word he spoke was just dripping with clear and undeniable insanity; hell, half the time he was laughing like a lunatic while speaking to Takashi, who was just standing there, the rage he was no doubt boiling over with, evidenced in his tightening grip on that bat. I could feel a cold sweat breaking out underneath the cap I always wore, and I needed to ignore it, I kept telling myself: **Minun on keskityttävä!** _(I must focus)_

About halfway through that nuts' rambling, Rei tried to break free from the grip he had on her, but it only resulted in him pulling her back, and at this point I could practically feel the disgusting presence of this guy crawling under my skin as he actually started fondling her breasts while still holding that knife to her throat, and all Takashi and I could do was just stand where we were and watch, not being able to do anything. That was the closest I came to just pulling the trigger right then and there, cut my losses if Rei's legs got hit, and then just beat the fucker to death with my rifle till it shattered. The only reason I didn't take my chance when Rei tried to run was because I thought if she could get away, Takashi would be fast enough to get to the guy and do him in himself.

To my surprise, Takashi began to approach the hulking street punk, getting an expected angry shouting as reaction from him. I don't know what he said exactly, but I had a pretty good idea, since Takashi threw his bat to the side, and in the silence that still hung thick in the air, the clang of that bat hitting the concrete floor was echoing out everywhere. It was mere seconds afterwards that I noticed silhouettes in the distance starting to approach the station, and it immediately dawned on me what was going on.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I steadied my aim to get it back on the thugs kneecap. There wasn't anymore time to waste, I needed to take the shot quick so we could get out of here before those goddamn zombeja got here. To my disbelief, Takashi instead pulled the money out of his pocket and was using it to fill up his bike, while that freak still had Rei at knifepoint. I didn't understand what the hell either of them were saying to each other and yet at the same time, I didn't give a shit; I was done wasting my time. Now, I finally had my shot. Takashi was now out of the way, and I had a clear shot right for that thugs head. I only needed him to expose his head just a tiny bit more, so I'd know I'd have a full chance at hitting him, and not hurting Rei in the process.

Takashi soon had used up all that money, and once he got the pump back into its holster, the thug started yelling at him again, and whatever Takashi had said to him, it got him riled up enough to lean his head forward over Rei's shoulder, rage burning in what little I could see of his eyes. In those few precious moments, I took a deep breath, leveled my scope with my right eye, steadied my aim, and with a quick pull of my finger, he was dead before he even hit the ground.

Wasting no time, I got back onto my feet, slung the rifle over my shoulder, and made my way over to Rei, who had gotten a hold back on that metal pole she had earlier, and to both my shock and my understanding, she was angrily beating the dead body again and again and again, screaming out in fear and anger with every hit. As much as I wanted to see if she was alright, I knew reaching out from behind was a terrible idea right now, so I just turned back with a sigh and hurried over to the car, hurriedly putting my money in and getting the pump in. Those damned undead would get here within seconds, and I needed to hurry, otherwise either Takashi and Rei would have to leave me behind, or we'd all end up getting eaten.

Looking back on it even now, I'm so glad those things were as slow-moving as they were. I was able to get the car back to a full tank, and I was about ready to just jump in and burn rubber out of there. I could hear the motorcycle engine get started back up behind me, but when I turned back to get into the car, I almost jumped to see Rei standing not even three inches away from me, that pole clenched tightly in her hand, tears of the very same fear and anger evident in her eyes, and several noticeable specks of blood on the right side of her face, and deep down I was hoping it was from my bullet, than from her post-mortem beating. I don't know why I was hoping for that.

I don't know what I was expecting when I saw her looking right at me eye to eye, but I certainly wasn't expecting what did happen. With a single tear rolling down her cheek, Rei suddenly threw her arms around me, and now I could hear her beginning to finally break down in tears with her face buried in my chest. I could barely make out her saying something, but it was muffled by my shirt; but I could just barely make out the gist of it. I recognized it from what Takashi had said a few hours earlier, when I had helped get the original owner of their bike off of him. She was thanking me. She kept saying the same thing again and again, and then something else I didn't understand, but she threw in both Takashi, and my name as well, so I assumed she was thanking both of us.

Once Takashi had rolled the bike up alongside the car, Rei had finally finished, and was almost immediately jumping back onto her seat behind him as I jumped over the driver door, starting the engine. I looked up and when my eyes met Takashi's, we both just smiled and silently nooded towards each other. He may not have known it, but he deserved my utmost thanks as well. If it hadn't been for him keeping that asshole's attention, he would have noticed me, and Rei wouldn't even be with us then. I watched his back, and in that respect, we both ended up watching Rei's as well, and the feeling of that kind of dynamic teamwork was an amazing feeling I hadn't felt in years; not since I was 12 and my brother and I worked together to take out a bear that had attacked our dad.

Within seconds, we were both back on the open road, Takashi narrowly swerving through a few of Them, and in the process, I ended up nailing a few, sending them flying either onto the sidewalk or into other empty cars that littered the road. The entire trip, this cold, painful feeling that had been creeping in my stomach grew more and more, wrending at my heart, until finally, I broke down into tears of my own while still trying to drive. I couldn't get over it, no matter what the circumstances may have been. I couldn't get over the fact, that for the very first time, I flat out murdered another living human being. The very thought left a cold and empty spot inside me, and I knew, this experience was going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

**Well, there you guys go, there's chapter 4. This one was a lot of fun to write, seeing as I finally got to delve into the aspect of the animals that humans essentially are, and how the worst of them come out in times of crisis. Normally I would have made the interaction with the guy who takes Rei hostage a lot longer, but remember: this story is being told from the perspective of the Scandinavians, in this case Alpi the Finn, and in chapter 3 it was mentioned that Alpi doesn't speak Japanese. Oh well, next chapter we'll finally be able to reunite all our beloved survivors, and we'll see just what awaits the lot of them with the inclusion of their foreign friends. To all you natural English speakers: Read and review, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. **  
**To all the Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes out there: Les og gjennomgå, og jeg håper du leser dette kapitlet så mye som jeg gjorde å skrive det.**  
**Last but not least, to all the Finns out there: Lue ja tarkistaa, ja toivon, että nautitte käsittelyssä tämän luvun yhtä paljon kuin minä sen kirjoittamisesta.**


	5. Kapittel Five: Vi Stå Sammen

**Well everybody, I took a tiny little hiatus to think this chapter through, but now that I've got it all figured out, here's chapter 5. I'm extremely thankful for the gradual number of views this story has gotten this month from all over the world, and for whatever reviews I've already received, and will possibly receive in the future. I don't own HOTD, that is the property of the Sato Brothers, all I own is my OC's, and the events that are altered by their presence. So please read and review, and if anyone who reads this knows anyone on the site from any country in Scandinavia, please tell them about this story so they can check it out as well. This story is made for everyone to read and enjoy, but I'd love for some of my OC's fellow countrymen to see it for themselves as well. Anyway, enough of my rambling, enjoy. **

**Also, I noticed that near the end of chapter 3 when I switched perspective over to Alpi, there was nothing there to signify that I had done that, so I've come up with a signal to let you know so as to avoid confusion. Whenever you see this symbol: **_aaa_** it means that the perspective has changed. I hope you won't think this is too inconvenient.**

**Also, I've decided that when dealing with the translations, I've decided to shorten the different languages by letter codes as follows: N-Norwegian, S-Swedish, D-Danish, F-Finnish.**

_Kapittel Five: Vi Stå Sammen (N: Chapter Five: We Stand Together)_

**Hej**. My name is Ditlev Petersen, the Dane that Bjarte has no doubt already told you about. Well, there isn't really much point for going into pointless details about myself, he already did that for all of us, so I guess I'll just start where I think it'd be best.

**Solopgang. **_(D: Sunrise.) _This was the first time I had actually managed to really witness the sunrise in years. I wasn't able to sleep a wink last night. I don't think any of us were. If it wasn't for the uncomfortable bus seats, it was because of the constant noise of blocked up traffic just outside the windows. If it wasn't that, it was simply the fear of what was out there, waiting for us. It had almost been an entire day since everything went straight to hell in the world. Dead people getting up and attacking the living, an idea that was entertaining in movies and games, but a nightmare in the real world.

Time felt like it was flying right by us, and yet at the same time it felt like it was slowing down as well. It had already been nearly 12 hours since Alpi and those two new friends of Bjarte's had left us on the bus. While me, Bjarte and Fritjof were confident that Alpi and the others were more and capable of taking care of themselves, what really had us on edge was if that would really be enough. I mean, just from what the three of us had experienced when trying to get to Bjarte's school yesterday, the entire city was crawling with the undead, and who knows what could've happened to them in the time since we had to separate? They could still be alive, or they could've already gotten eaten; an idea I was too scared to even picture in my head.

Maybe it'd be best if I just gave a brief explanation of what we did after we had to separate. That blonde woman who had been driving the bus managed to get us onto a street that wasn't so congested with wreckage or...Them. As luck would've had it, it was able to get us over to one of the main streets, at least according to one of the students that came with that teacher, Shidou I think his name was. I'd never actually really caught it; Fritjof always did say I was a scatterbrain at the worst of times.

Well, the ride had gone on for a few more hours; hours that were filled either with uncomfortable silence from myself, Bjarte, Fritjof, and the students who Bjarte said we could trust. Or hours filled with listening to the supposedly morale-boosting speeches of Shidou towards his little group of followers. Everytime I looked at him when his back was turned, I kept remembering what Alpi had told us the previous night about him. How he had practically murdered one of his own students in cold blood when they were heading for our bus. For the most part, I couldn't believe it, or rather I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that a fellow survivor could do something like that to another in a time like this. Yes, so I was in a state of denial, but I'm sure all three of us were deep down.

It was late into the night when we had finally come across more people. A lot more people. We were on a road that was supposed to eventually lead out to a bridge that would take us to another part of the city. According to the police officers that were maintaining the traffic despite the panicking citizens either in their cars or on foot, the part of the city they were trying to get people into was apparently secure by the SDF. I don't think any of us really believed that to be true. The traffic had been at a complete standstill, and it was only every few hours when the flow was able to move forward, and even then it was only by an inch or two.

It had remained like that for the entire night up until morning. **Mærkeligt.** _(D: Strange) _It seemed like when everybody had completely woken up, Shidou was immediately on a role with his self-imposed 'leadership' speeches, and if it didn't sound like he was just repeating himself in my ears, it sounded more and more like he was trying to prepare them for the new world, but then again, maybe I had just been reading into his words too much. The rest of us still never said anything, as none of us could think of anything to say. The blonde, having gotten tired from standing in this immovable traffic flow for the last several hours no doubt, was resting against the wheel as I continued listening to Shidou's extravagant ramblings.

"We cannot act selfishly. We can only begin to act on our own once we find a safe place! For example, worrying about the safety of our families! Only with discipline can we create a plan as a group..." he continued to go on as I slowly moved my gaze over all the other survivors, the ones who weren't swallowing every single drop of what he was saying. I may not have been as good at identifying good people from the bad like Alpi, but I could definitely see why Bjarte said we could trust them. There was just something about each and every one of them that gave me a feeling like I could willingly fight alongside any of them at the drop of a hat.

Deep in the back of my mind, one of Shidou's words had gotten to me. Families. There was no reason to doubt that all of us were worried sick for the safety of our families, but what had gotten to me the most was that Bjarte had told us that Scandinavia had been kept under control so far. He had listed off everywhere but Denmark. That in and of its own scared me more than anything. Was Denmark the only country that had gone to shit once everything started? Were my parents alright? As much as I knew I wasn't supposed to be dwelling on it in order to survive, I couldn't help it. If my parents, if my whole family were dead...I honestly didn't know what I would do. I don't think any of us would if that were to be what we would discover.

I sat back down in my seat and looked over at Bjarte who kept his gaze fixated forward. He looked terrible. There was still residue of blood on his face from when Alpi had saved him at the school, his hands were still covered in it, and he looked like he hadn't had any sleep at all like the rest of us. I looked past him at Fritjof, and he didn't look much better. He had had this look in his eyes that I could only think was mild PTSD, and he'd had that look ever since I had to hack off the heads of one of those monsters out there when it had him pinned down. I also wish there were another way to have saved him, but at that time we were next to surrounded, and I wasn't able to think of a plan like he could. Seeing him in that kind of a state didn't really lift my spirits.

For as long as I had known Fritjof, he was always the voice of reason, the one to tell us not to do something stupid. He always said I was like the youngest child among the four of us, and while I may have at times resented him for that, there were times when I knew he was right. Now, seeing the most level-headed of us looking like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown was a very distressing sight. I wish I could've said something to him or Bjarte, but the worry I had for not just all of us, but for my family as well...it just robbed me of any words of comfort I could've said.

Not knowing what else I could do, I looked over the back of my seat again, looking over at my other fellow survivors. Bjarte had managed to introduce me to them by name, but I hadn't had an actual chance to really talk to them at all yet. That purple-haired girl with the wooden sword, Saeko-san was sitting with her head bowed down and that wooden sword of hers tucked in her arms, and the pink-haired girl with the pigtails, Takagi-san looked like she was deep in thought, and all the while the chubby boy next to her, Kouhta-san I think was his name was sleeping like a rock. Alright, so I guess at least one of us had it in them to actually sleep after all that had happened only yesterday. It was when he actually just started to snore that Takagi-san elbowed him in the arm, effectively waking him up. I glanced to the back to see Shidou was still rambling with his own students, so I turned my attention back to Takagi-san and Kouhta-san.

I didn't catch the first part of what they had said to each other, but when they looked out their windows I couldn't help but head to the first empty seat on their side of the bus so I could get a better view at just what was going on out there. "It would have been better if we hadn't gone towards the city." Takagi-san had started as she pointed out towards the street just outside. I just looked at all the people who had either abandoned their cars or had walked all the way here, every single on of them clearly terrified beyond all rational thought.

"These cars have absolutely no way of getting out." she continued, and just then, I briefly glanced up at the sky, and I could just barely make out the distant form of an airplane taking off over the city skyline, and apparently they had noticed it as well as Takagi-san pointed out. "There's also the off-shore airport. Then of course there's also the harbor that would take people to that same airport. From the way things are looking, it appears the heavily populated areas are the most dangerous right now, so everyone out there must be trying to get there, and flee for some island somewhere. Isolated locations like that are bound to have a lot less people living there." she had finished as I just looked back at her, taking every word into consideration.

"You mean places like Okinawa?" Kouhta-san had then chimed in as Takagi-san remained undeterred in her thinking. If I could've thought of something to throw in as well, I would've. Yet, at the same time I wanted to hear all she had in mind. It could've been useful for later just in case. "If they were handling this situation properly, those airplanes would be heading for places like Hokkaido or Kyuushuu." she muttered.

"Do you think we should head that way, too?" I finally said, and rather than look surprised that I had joined in this little conversation, Takagi-san just continued, her eyes glued to the horizon. "We're going too slow. The Self Defense Force and the American army have Them under control in many areas, and they must have accepted the fact that they can't really trust anyone. Before too long, the whole world will feel that way. Both of you, think about it. If people are unable to come to terms with the outbreak of Them, what will you do?" Damn, she had a really good point there that I hadn't taken into consideration. Even if we were to escape the city, what would we do then? If the military were to have set up a shelter while under martial law, we could be in even worse danger than I had previously thought.

"I would just do whatever I could." Kouhta-san whispered nervously, only for Takagi-san to whip her head back at him, irritation shining in her eyes through those glasses. I kind of felt sorry for the guy, he was just saying what he thought he should have, and yet she was constantly chewing him out for it.

"Yeah, but will the rest of the world be thinking that way? On the other hand, if they all continue with their normal lives, they'll have to realize that it's necessary to maintain the communities..." she answered, slowly drifting off into her own thoughts once again as Kouhta-san meekly bowed his head with a nervous smile on his face. I couldn't hear what he had said, but then again I wasn't paying attention anymore. After listening to Takagi-san's explanation, it gave me some other thoughts to consider regarding back home. If some of the Special Forces in Northern Europe were exercising the maintaining of social order, perhaps they had done the same for Denmark, and my parents could be in a shelter right now. That thought put many of my previous dreads to rest, but it was still nothing more than a possibility. I knew I wouldn't be completely at ease until I was certain of what was going on with them.

I then noticed Takagi-san and Kouhta-san looking over their seats back at Shidou lording over his now adoring public, and I found myself agreeing with every single word Takagi-san said afterwards. "That bastard back there knows that already. He's just using it to his own advantage, but he doesn't understand a thing. You with me? He was able to realize it in just half a day." she muttered, and I just lowered my head halfway behind the headrest as I glanced back over to my original seat, looking intently at the fireaxe I had already become so accustomed to. "What do you suggest we do, Takagi-san? Should we kick him out now while we have a chance?" I asked, and I could tell Kouhta-san was thinking the same thing, gripping that weird nail gun of his in both hands, and that once gentle look in his eyes turned as cold as ice.

Takagi-san just looked us both over as the sighed and crossed her arms, dissuading both of us from acting prematurely. "No, we need to focus on more important matters right now, primarily how we're all going to survive. We need to think of a plan first." she explained, but then immediately afterwards, I heard her grumbling something about that Komuro guy that I remember Alpi had run off with. Before I knew it, Kouhta-san suddenly muttered something about him as well, I didn't catch what it was, but the reaction Takagi-san gave from it nearly made me fall backwards from my seat in surprise.

"Don't say stupid things like that you idiot!" she exclaimed, completely losing that cool she had been holding onto until now. She probably would've continued chastising the living hell out of him if she hadn't turned around and noticed that the blonde woman, Saeko-san, Bjarte, Fritjof and I were all staring at her. Fritjof and I were the only ones who didn't have some kind of grin on our faces, and I had no idea what they were grinning about. I mean goodness, thinking back on it, the way Takagi-san yells still makes my head ring when I think about it.

She remained silent, and completely red in the face for several seconds before she scoffed and got back to sitting down with her head bowed down muttering "think whatever you want." With that, I got back to my seat next to Bjarte, gripping the handle of my axe waiting for whatever could happen, to happen.

_aaa_

**Helvetti. **_(F: Hell)_I was literally staring straight into the flaming mouth of **Helvetti**. When the sunrise had finally arrived after such a long night of endless driving, I had felt a sense of calm, but it was all just a lie. Just by looking at their faces, I could tell Takashi and Rei felt the exact same way as I did looking at what was just around the street corner. We had finally made our way into the deeper parts of downtown Tokonosu, and from when we had first seen it, there wasn't any smoke or fires or any sounds to be heard. We felt the panic and chaos had all died down. Oh my god were we wrong.

Beforehand, all the streets we had gone through were next to empty, only the straggling undead here and there. I admit, it was odd when there was noise that had come to get gradually louder when we hadn't seen a single sign of life, and I couldn't even identify what it was, it was so tremendous. I had managed to keep up with Takashi and Rei in the Lexus until we got to a street corner where it seemed that we had reached the source of it all. I wanted to kep the car out of sight, still very shaken up from the encounter just the previous night, so I had kept my rifle handy as I got out and peeked around the corner with the others who stayed on the bike. The man who had nearly taken Rei last night, I thought he was as bad a human being as I would ever meet in this dead world. This, what I saw then was simply indescribable. It was too horrific for words to successfully convey.

Practically the entire main street was ablaze, and was bustling with all kinds of life, whether it was running civilians or the undead, but that wasn't what got us. What got to us, to me especially was the living humans who weren't running away. I could hear all kinds of things, cars smashing into each other, people screaming, the undead wailing, and above all else, the sounds of psychotic laughter hanging in the smoke-filled air.

These people were actually enjoying what was going on. I was seeing men in typical business wear, now smiling with what I could only describe as bloodlust as they hacked away at the undead with whatever they could find, and there were people shooting the undead, and one man in particular, hacking off one of Their heads with a samurai sword, and holding the severed head like a trophy, whle laughing like a fucking maniac.

As if that weren't bad enough, just when I was beginning to think they were just killing the dead, they were actually shooting at people who were clearly still alive, shooting at them like wild game and laughing the whole time. Whoever they were able to shoot, if they were still alive, those psychos ganged up on them and either beat them to death, or hacked them to goddamn pieces while they were screaming for any kind of help. I couldn't stand to watch any more, I just immediately hid back behind the corner, clutching my rifle for dear life and trembling all over. I couldn't handle much more of this. I was still in plenty of shock from when I had to actually kill another living human being, but seeing once civilized people become this hellish form of barbarian...it was just too much.

When I suddenly heard quiet footsteps approaching me from up front, I almost instantly had my rifle up and ready to fire, but stopped myself just in time as I saw it was only Rei, who looked in utter shock as I slowly lowered my rifle from her head. I could feel it in myself. All that was happening was finally starting to really get to me. I was getting jumpy, I was getting paranoid. I was so lost in my panicking thoughts that I hadn't even realized Rei was calling my name until I felt her place one of her hands on my shoulder.

I slowly looked back up to her, and I could see it in her eyes. She was just as horrified as I was, if not more so, but she was still trying to keep her cool. I just kept looking at her, and then over at Takashi who was still on his bike, but I could see, he was very faintly trembling as well. There wasn't a single one of us who wasn't horrified at what was just around that corner, but we needed to try and keep a level head if we wanted to get through this alive.

Taking several deep breaths, and placing my hand on Rei's to let her know I was alright now, I got back up on my feet and made my way back to the car. I believe all three of us were thinking the same thing: just go as fast as you can through it, don't stop for anything, just focus on getting through.

Taking one last long breath to calm my nerves, I started the engine as Takashi began to inch forward on the bike, and I made sure to stay close. We were gonna have to act almost simultaneously if we wanted to get through this mess unscathed. At least, that's what I was hoping would be the plan, but whatever it was, it was out of the question almost instantly when I heard someone in the distance shouting. I could only assume it meant we'd been spotted, because the instant that man shouted, Takashi started to burn rubber down the street, and I immediately followed suit, gritting my teeth and keeping my head low.

The gunshots that rang out were nearly instantaneous as I could feel a heavy impact against the passenger side door nearly blowing it off its hinges, immediately followed by another shot that blew my windshield in, sending glass shards into my knuckles and all over my shirt. Yet another shot rang out, and I could practically feel the burning hot air from a bullet whiz right past my head and instead blast a zombie that was just outside the driver side door. Specks of its blood splashed my face as I continued to speed like a madman down the street, trying to keep Takashi and Rei in my sights while trying to avoid the fires and the zombies, and most importantly, the fucking bullets.

Just when I thought I was about to make it, I heard another gunshot from the side, and a deafening bang instantly followed, and my car was soon swerving out of control. Before I even realized what happened, the car wasn't even on the road anymore, instead it was flipping through the air and immediately afterwards crashing right into the ground, and I ducked my head as low as I could to avoid getting crushed as the car rolled further on down the road, smashing into the side of a building.

It felt like hours before I finally got my senses back, and when I had come to, I found I was still fastened into the drivers seat, but I could already tell the car was totaled. Every little move I made resulted in a sharp sting of pain as I could feel burning cuts all along my arms and on my face. I unfastened myself as I climbed out of the wreckage, collapsing onto the ground as a sharp pain flared in my leg. I just looked down and I could feel my whole body go cold when I saw a piece of metal embedded in my leg, right above my kneecap.

I struggled to get back onto my feet, supporting myself against the wall as I looked back at the wreckage, but then something flashed through my mind, and it immediately made my heart skip several beats. My rifle was gone. It wasn't slung around my shoulder, it wasn't in the car, it was flat out gone. Turning to look back to the street, I felt despair creep in when I saw it lying in the middle of the road, and I could hear the voices of those psychos approaching from the other side of all the fires and the wreckage.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I began to make my way back towards the rifle. I needed to get it back. It was a family heirloom, it was my birthright! I kept limping the whole way, trying my hardest to ignore the pain so that I could get my rifle back, and find somewhere to hide. I had no idea where Takashi and Rei had gone, or if they even noticed I wasn't following them anymore. After a few minutes, I had finally gotten to it, grabbing it and slinging the strap over my shoulders. I sighed in relief, but once I heard those voices again, I knew I needed to find somewhere to hide fast. I knew I didn't have a whole lot of ammo left, and I couldn't afford to waste it fighting people who this time, could shoot back.

No matter where I looked, I couldn't find anywhere that could really keep me out of sight. I had to face the facts, at this moment...I was completely screwed. I couldn't run with this shard in my leg, I had a low supply of bullets, and I wasn't able to get somewhere safe. I was done for, I knew I was.

Then, I heard the distant sound of a motorcycle approaching from behind, and I had come to recognize the sound of that engine all too well. Looking over my shoulder, I felt like I was ready to actually jump for joy if it hadn't been for my leg. It was Takashi and Rei speeding towards me, swerving past the clusters of undead before screeching to a stop right in front of me. I couldn't understand any of what either of them were saying to me, and even if I did; all the damn noise from behind me would've drowned it all out. The only thing I could tell was that they both had expressions of the deepest concern, so that clearly meant they noticed I had been missing or even saw me collide with a brick wall.

I looked and noticed Takashi had that new five-shooter of his at the ready should any of those nutcases have come through the wreckage to come after us, and Rei almost instantly noticed the metal sticking out of my leg. I had already gotten myself to ignore the pain as best as I could, so I just shrugged my shoulders to indicate I was fine for now. I took a deep breath and pulled the bolt for my rifle back to load another bullet into the chamber as I looked over my shoulder at all the flaming wrecks that practically barred the street. If we were lucky, it would take a while for those **Paskiaiset** _(F: Assholes) _back there to find a way through it, and I could be able to find another ride so we could get the hell out of there.

Looking across the street, the results weren't promising. What wasn't smashed into a building or into another few cars was just a burned out shell. Either way I wasn't going to be able to drive any of these, and in my condition I knew I wouldn't be able to walk for very long and we couldn't afford to go at a snails pace here. **Hemmetti**, _(F: Dammit)_ I was at a complete loss for ideas at that point, and I was not okay with not having a plan during desperate situations.

I then heard Rei and Takashi begin talking amongst themselves. I just assumed it was another one of their little arguments, so I drew my attention back to finding any kind of vehicle that could help me escape with them. However, before I even realized what was going on, Rei grabbed onto the sleeve of my shirt and started pulling me over to what was originally her spot on the bike. I immediately knew that if I did what she was suggesting, she'd end up being left in the same predicament as me, and I would be damned if I was going to allow anyone to die on my watch. I began shaking my head stubbornly, and when that didn't get the point across, I did the stupidest thing and actually tried talking, thinking that would make it clear that I was refusing. I just kept yelling: **Ei, en ole pääsemässä! Vihaan moottoripyörien selässä!**** Haluan löytää oman tieni ja saada takaisin istuin itse, perkele!**_(F: No, I'm not getting on! I hate riding motorcycles! Let me find my own way out and get back in the seat yourself, dammit!) _Biggest waste of effort in my life.

They both just gave me looks of utter confusion at the apparent gibberish I was shouting at them, and the only thing this proved was that Rei was very damn persistent. She practically had to throw me onto the backseat, but then came something that completely shut me up and got me to stay still. Just when I was about to get off the seat and force her back onto it myself, she suddenly climbed onto the bike between me and Takashi, sitting herself on my legs and bringing her arms back around Takashi's chest. For that moment I could feel my heart pounding violently at my chest, all the blood rushing to my head, and I very well nearly passed out from the burst of adrenaline.

I was completely speechless, and when I nearly fell backwards off the bike from the lack of a back rest, I immediately swung the rifle so that it was against my back again. After that I ended up instinctively latching onto his waist, and before I knew it we were speeding down the road once more. I let out a sigh of relief once I felt that we were far enough away from those butchering maniacs back there, and before too long it was back to just the sound of the engine, and speeding past a few groups of undead along the way.

For a few seconds, I just imagined how the three of us must've looked on a two-person motorcycle, one girl practically sandwiched between two guys. **Naurettavaa**, _(F: Ridiculous) _although the image did bring a bit of a smile to my face. A quick glance down reminded me of the steel still embedded in my leg, and the burning sensation it gave me was really starting to build up. Breathing in through my teeth in preparation, I quickly grabbed onto the shard and immediately yanked it out, throwing it back to the ground speeding past us. The pain was next to unbearable, and I was so close to screaming that I had to bite down on the collar of my shirt to stop. The vision of the blood flowing down my leg again, staining my entire pant leg red still makes me a bit sick when I look back on it.

It took me a few minutes to get myself to ignore the now dying pain as the bike suddenly skidded to a stop at another street corner. I began to fear we ran into another group of psycho survivors here, but the relatively calm tones Takashi and Rei had when they were talking helped to dispell that fear. I glanced up to see Rei looking over to the right, and when I followed her gaze, I could see a large bridge just down the rivernext to us. I could hear all the distant noise of major traffic and the screams of dozens of people. Among those were the sirens of either police cars or ambulances, and I could just barely make out someone speaking into a loudspeaker, yet I once again couldn't understand what it was saying. However, judging by all the chaos that had been going on, I had a pretty good guess. I began to wonder where all the others were right now, stuck on the bus with that murdering son of a whore, Shidou. Just that very name made my face go hot with anger, remembering that horrible image of him ruthlessly kicking a student in the face, leaving him to get torn apart without a shred of remorse in his face or his later actions. I was terrified of what he could've been doing to everyone right at this moment.

Suddenly, there was an outburst of even louder screaming coming from that same bridge, and when I couldn't see what was happening, I brought the rifle up so I could get a view through the scope. What I saw, I at first couldn't believe. This really was complete and utter anarchy. The authorities were actually using high-pressured water hoses to blow people trying to cross the bridge right over the edge, plummeting into the river. I brought the rifle back over my shoulder, the image of what I had just witnessed still rushing through my mind, just as I'm sure Takashi and Rei were feeling if they had seen it as well. Now I had a new worry to add to my little list: were my friends and their fellow survivors caught up in all that chaos on the bridge? Were they among those people that just got blasted into the river?

After a moment or two of silence, takashi and Rei began to talk amongst each other again, only this time it didn't sound like arguing, more like planning from the sounds of it. Was their another way we could get across the river that they knew about? Either way, I wasn't going to argue, I knew we weren't going to get across that bridge behind us. Among the other words Takashi was throwing out, I caught him say the name of that blonde woman from back at the bus, I think it was Marikawa-sensei or something like that; and I heard him mention Bjarte as well, so I could only assume he was talking about some way to get back to the lot of them. If that was the plan, he could already consider me okay with it.

When Rei responded, I heard her mention Shidou as well, and I knew that he would come across as an obstacle eventually. I looked past Rei's side and saw Takashi open on of the folds of his uniform, and I saw that five-shooter of his holstered in the pocket. Now I was more grateful than ever that Rei grabbed it earlier for him. I then just barely caught Takashi mention my name as well in the mix, so I assumed he was mentioning my rifle as well. With a hearty grin, I had grabbed it and held it out to emphasize whatever point he had been making. If things were to go like I was expecting, I would be more than happy to put a bullet right in Shidou's head. People like him...the world didn't need them. I knew that with all my heart, and believed it even more.

_aaa_

**Sindssyge.** _(D: Insanity) _That's what things inside this bus were turning into. Shidou's speeches were beginning to really show a transition from 'calming morale-boosting lectures' to full blown 'new world order speeches and declarations.' He was going into full-on extreme body motions to go along with his statements of grandeur, and remembering all the history classes I had to go through back in Copenhagen, I could see a strong resemblance in his presence to that of Adolf Hitler. Now, I was officially terrified of this guy, and I was about ready to either beat him within an inch of his life to get rid of the threat, or just jump ship like Komuro-san, Miyamoto-san and Alpi.

By this point, Bjarte and Fritjof had joined me on Takagi-san's side of the bus as she had begun to explain more and more observations to us all in light of the worsening situation we were all facing. "This is getting really bad you guys. It's clear that we can't afford to stay here much longer." she muttered, straightening her glasses as we all briefly glanced over to the back while the**galning**_(D: madman) _had his back turned.

"Indeed. He's acting like he's trying to get us to join a new religious sect." Saeko-san stated as we all got back down into our seats, just in case any of Shidou's group were to see us and suspect us of anything. "It's not 'like' it; that's exactly what he's doing. A new religious sect...Father Shidou wants us to be his first disciples." Takagi-san whispered, and that thought...it made Fritjof shudder more than any of us. He never was one to support organized religion, but it was the ones that inspired extreme and violent devotion that really made him nervous. For the first time in my life, I could see just where that fear was coming from, cause I was feeling it too. If someone like Shidou were to turn his students into some kind of psycho cult, who knows what he could convince them to do; to us especially if we were stupid enough to stick around.

"Seriously, just look at those people listening to him right now." Takagi-san continued, and that was what inspired me to briefly peek past the edge of my seat to get a better view. She was right to be worried. Just looking at how those poor fools were looking at Shidou like he was the Second Coming personified; it was brainwashing in its simplest form. I looked over to Saeko-san as she bowed her head in thought. "With the road like this, it might be a good idea to just leave the bus behind. If we somehow crossed Onbetsu Bridge, though, we'd be going in the opposite direction that Higashi Police Station is in...I promised Komuro-kun." she began to delve into a whisper, but it was apparently enough for Takagi-san to get a mouthful in herself.

"You're really worried about Komuro, aren't you? What about your family?" she replied with a snarky grin on her face. I guess she felt this would be great payback for embarrassing her earlier today. The rest of us refused to get involved, I think we were all just waiting for someone to come up with a plan of action, preferably one that involved ditching those loonies with the bus.

"I am worried, but my father is the only one in my family, and he's overseas for a martial arts tournament right now." was Saeko-san's reply as she gave one of the most pleasant looking smiles I'd ever seen a woman give. "To put it simply, I'm more worried about keeping my promise with Komuro-kun. You see, my father taught me to value promises as much as I value my own life." she finished, causing Takagi-san's eyebrow to twitch in anger. She got out of her seat, standing in the middle aisle of the bus with her head bowed in thought when Kouhta-san came up to her, that nervous smile on his face again.

"Umm, where do you live, Takagi-san?" he asked quietly, causing her to throw her arms up in the air and turn on her heels to chew him out once more. "Just like Komuro, on the other side of Onbetsu Bridge." she stated as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. Kouhta-san started to stutter in response, and I could tell he was desperately trying not to trip over his own words when talking to her. "Well, my family is gone right now, so I'll just go where you go, Takagi-san." he replied nervously.

"Well, we don't have anybody to go to in this city, so we'll just stick with you guys until we can eventually get to our own families as well. Even then, I'll still stay with you guys." Bjarte suddenly announced, getting everyones attention. I hadn't been expecting him to speak out all of a sudden, although I had felt that would be the best course of action as well, and when I saw Fritjof nodding in agreement, I knew he agreed with me.

"Well forgive me for asking what must be an obvious question, but where are your families right now, Hirano-kun, Bjarte-kun, Ditlev-kun, Fritjof-kun?" Saeko-san asked with that warm smile, looking each of us right in the eye with each name. Personally, I was flattered that she had already come to know each of us by name even though we hadn't even really talked to her; but at the same time I was really flustered with the suffix she put in for each of us. Throughout my life, I'd come to see enough anime and read enough manga to know what each one meant, and with that knowledge in mind, I was really hoping my face wasn't as visibly red as Fritjof's was.

"Well, my dad works as a dockhand back home in Oslo, and my mother works as a chef at a hotel. Judging by the day this all started, they would either be hiding out at their workplaces, or they would be home. My sister is still in high school, so she would either be there or at home." Bjarte answered first.

"My father runs a computer software store chain throughout Stockholm, and my mother is an article writer, so they would both be either at home or at the city hall. The National Task Force had set up an emergency shelter for the mass populace should a national emergency arise, so if anything, my parents were most likely to have gone there." Fritjof answered next, trying to remain as composed as possible.

Now it was my turn. "Well, my dad works as a doctor in Copenhagen, and my mom works as a primary school teacher. Chances are most likely they would be hiding out in those very locations." I explained, making sure to leave out the fact that Denmark was still unknown in terms of control and public security. I really didn't want to have Takagi-san expressing her doubts about their safety. It would just be too much to handle. Taking a deep breath, I looked over at Kouhta-san who was still smiling nervously while twiddling his thumbs together, his eyes glued to the floor. "Hirano-san, what about your family?" Bjarte asked as he leaned back in his seat.

"My dad deals in jewelry, so he's in Holland on business. My mom's a fashion designer, so she's in Paris right now." he explained in barely a whisper, or at least I thought it was. Takagi-san's reaction still brings a smile to my face, she was utterly flabbergasted, and so was Fritjof for that matter.

"What! Since when has your life been set up like some outdated fictional character's!" she shouted in hysterics, and all the while Saeko-san's expression didn't change at all.

"How splendid. If this was a manga, your dad would be the captain of a passenger ship from another country." I suddenly heard that blonde woman at the wheel speak up for the first time in what felt like days. It was at least nice to see some of us were getting some enjoyment out of this, especially when Kouhta-san's only response was: "That was actually my grandfather. My grandmother was a violinist, too." I was about ready to burst out laughing and I could tell Bjarte and Fritjof were struggling as well, especially when Takagi-san could only plant her head in her hands in the utmost aggravation.

"So, what are you all going to do? I want to come along, too." the blonde suddenly announced, and that was what finally caught us off guard. "Marikawa-sensei, are you sure about this?" Bjarte asked, and I snapped my fingers in realization. I had completely forgotten her name, and now I finally knew everyone. I then got myself back on track, it was time for serious discussion now.

"Well, both my parents passed away a few years back, and all my other relatives live very far away from the city. I hate to ask you all such a question, but the thing is...I don't really like Shidou-sensei." she replied in a whisper, and I could tell all of us, except Takagi-san, were all smiling at our mutual distrust. However, that's when I could hear a solitary pair of footsteps approaching from behind us, and I already knew who it was. The smile slowly left my face as I tightened the grip on the handle of my fireaxe, especially when Shidou started talking to us.

"What's wrong everybody? We're all supposed to be working together..." he began, and that's when Takagi-san just turned back to face him, and said one of the gutsiest and flatout amazing things I'd heard in a while. "It's a bit embarrassing to say so, Shidou-sensei, but we have our own goals. This isn't a school trip, so none of us have an obligation to associate with you." I swear, I was halfway ready to give her the biggest slap on the back in congratulations for that open mockery, but I felt a bit discouraged when I saw he hadn't been effected in the slightest, although that blonde haired **lort** _(D: piece of shit) _did look like he did yesterday when yelling at Komuro-san. He looked like he was ready to beat the living shit out of us.

Shidou still had that disgusting grin on his face as he folded his hands together and kept his gaze on us with his head bowed down. "I can see you've already decided, so please, be my guest and do as you please, Takagi-san. Japan is a free country, after all. However..." and as he slurred that last word, I could feel my skin grow cold as he licked his lips like the most wretched pervert out on the street.

"Marikawa-sensei is in big trouble. We cannot afford to lose our nurse." he finally finished, and we all simultaneously turned to see the horrified expression on her face as Shidou slowly began to approach us. My knuckles were going white on my axe handle. I wish somebody would've just given me the word so I could embed it right in his head. Every second looking at this guy made me more and more disgusted.

"So, you'll stay here, will you not? We have poor students who need you. Well then, Marikawa-sensei. If you stay here, Takagi-san and her friends will, too. We need you to rely on in times of crisis, you see? However, the gaijin are free to go as they..." and in that instant, everything that followed couldn't have been longer than the blink of an eye.

Kouhta-san actually fired his nail gun right at Shidou, and it actually cut his cheek, embedding right into the seat behind him, forcing one of his followers to jump back in fear. Almost simultaneously, Bjarte had jumped right over his seat, had his machete unsheated, and had the blade right up to Shidou's throat, and as soon as action had been taken, I saw Shidou's collected face sink into absolute terror, his skin going even paler than it already was.

"H-Hi-Hirano-kun..." he stuttered, trying his best to keep smiling, but I could see all his confidence falling apart with each second, and I very nearly wanted to get him on his knees. I just glanced over at Kouhta-san, whose eyes were completely fixed on aiming the gun right between Shidou's eyes. Deep down, I'm sure we were all begging him to pull the trigger, to actually kill this man. For a second, that thought actually scared me, drove me to become afraid of myself. Yet, just as quickly as the feeling had come, it had disappeared. "I didn't intend to miss. You just got lucky." he muttered to Shidou, and I could hear his voice begin to crack, and his hands begin to tremble.

"For you to be with such heartless students... HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU THINK BEAT ME UP AT SCHOOL!" he screamed, pure hatred burning in his voice, and it actually forced me to take a step back in surprise. I looked, and Bjarte kept shifting his glance from Shidou to Kouhta-san as he continued to give Shidou all he had.

"Most of them are right in front of you! Don't even try to tell me I deserved it!" he continued, steadily approaching closer and closer to Shidou until he finally had the barrel of his gun right up against his throat. I began to approach from behind as well, getting my axe at the ready should I have needed to use it.

"I've restrained myself! I've always held it in! I wanted to have a normal life, so I've always held it in! Normality doesn't exist anymore, though. Normality is now a dead concept! I'll kill you. You may be alive now, but I'll kill you, I swear I will." he muttered in the most chilling tone I've ever heard, and Bjarte pushed the blade of his machete a tiny bit, and I could already see a tiny trickle of blood go down Shidou's neck, and he looked like he was about ready to beg and cry for mercy, no doubt like the kid he had murdered. **Hævn er en rigtig dræber, er det ikke? **_(D: Revenge is a real killer, isn't it?)_

"You may think we're just mindless students and worthless gaijin, but in reality we're the real group, the real survivors, the real friends that stand together in this hell. We're not just obedient puppets you can manipulate and control like them!" Bjarte spat, nudging his head towards the group in the back. "Alpi told us the truth about what you did. I've never killed an actual human before, and I don't intend to start today. You're not worth it. However, mark my words...in the end, you will burn for what you have done."

Never before had I ever seen Bjarte so dead serious with anyone, and I would've thrown my own little comment into the fray as well, until Kouhta-san suddenly shouted to the back: "Busujima-senpai, take the lead and get out of the bus!"

I looked over my shoulder as Saeko-san slipped that wooden sword of hers through one of the belt loops in her skirt and pulled the lever to open the door, looking back at all of us with a smile that displayed more than kindness...it displayed true heartfelt respect. "I'll guard the rear once you're all out. Hirano-kun, Bjarte-kun, Ditlev-kun...you're all real men." Ah damn, I could feel my face going red again for a second or two.

Almost as if on queue, we all made our way back out through the doors out on the streets. Once I had gotten out, Kouhta-san immediately slammed the doors shut, and we were then making our way through the congested traffic to the opposite side of the street. As we made our way, I looked back to the bus, and I saw Shidou and all his sheep watching us depart through the windows. Stopping in my tracks, I hid my axe behind my back and raised one glorious middle finger right in their faces. Grinning widely, I made my way back to catch up with the others. Sometimes, it really did feel good to be the apparent child of the group.

Once we were sure we got a good enough distance from the bus, we came to a stop and huddled together for what I felt was a brainstorming session. "We're not really familiar with this part of the city, so does anyone have any suggestions on where we should go?" Fritjof asked as everybody began to think. He was right, we couldn't just go wandering about trying to find the police station that Komuro-san said we would meet up at.

"Well, our first course of action should be to see if Onbetsu Bridge is even crossable at this point. Yes it's in the opposite direction of the Higashi Station, but if anything, we'll need to make sure we have a set escape route once we meet back up with the others." Takagi-san explained to us all, and we all nodded in agreement. For the moment, it was the most sensible course of action, and now that we didn't have any other actual people to worry about, I for one felt just the tiniest bit safer.

"Umm...Takagi-san, don't you think it's possible Onbetsu Bridge might be blocked off by now? I mean, this isn't the kind of traffic this area usually gets." Kouhta-san asked rubbing the back of his head, and Takagi-san looked like she was ready to backhand him across the face for speaking out of turn, but instead she just turned her back on us, and I just figured that meant for us to follow her lead. I wasn't gonna complain or argue. At the moment, all I could think about was whether or not Komuro-san, Miyamoto-san and Alpi were still alright out there by themselves.

_aaa_

It couldn't have been more than an hour after that little incident at the bridge, and we had continued to make our way along the one road we had. Judging by the few stops we made along the way, it became apparent to me that we were trying to find a bridge we could be able to get across that either wasn't congested with traffic, or completely barred off-limits by the authorities. It seemed like a pretty good idea when I realized it, but by the time we had stopped at our third bridge that was once again inaccessible, I was beginning to lose hope in finding a way across the river.

Takashi and Rei didn't seem all that discouraged though. With each stop and each barred bridge, the two talked calmly amongst each other, so they must've known there'd be another one a little further up the road. There needed to be one.

We continued on our way, passing a few individual survivors along the way, but none of them acknowledged us. By the time we had gotten to our sixth bridge, and that one was also completely uncrossable, that's when I think the despair was getting to all three of us. Takashi muttered something again, and by this time I just didn't care anymore. I was so worried for my friends by now, I couldn't bring myself to actually listen or care about anything else.

At that instant, Rei suddenly said something with what sounded like excitement, and it finally drew my attention when it caused her to lift herself up off my legs and stand on the bike to get what I assumed was a better look. Figuring I might as well see what's going on, I slung my rifle back into my hands and this time detached the actual scope so I could see through just that. What I saw on the other side made my jaw drop with surprise. Not even a kilometer away from us, approaching us from the opposite end of the street, were all the fellow survivors we had been forced to leave behind yesterday. I couldn't believe my eyes, they were right in front of us, and they were all okay!

Takashi immediately brought the bike to the side of the street, and the instant we were stopped, Rei practically jumped off of me to come running down the road towards them, and by this point, they had noticed us too and were running as well. Me, I tried to go as fast as I could in regards to my fucked up leg. Takashi was the only one going at his own pace as we all tearfully reunited with our friends, the old and the new.

All three of the guys were just yelling my name the whole way: "ALPI!", until we just collided with each other in a huge bear hug. For the first time in I don't even remember how long, I was openly crying in front of them; I was so happy to see them again. I mean, for once I was even glad to see Fritjof again, and that alone speaks volumes of how much things changed. Everyone else basically reunited first with the ones they knew the best, then we all just basically got back together as a whole. Everybody was overjoyed to see everybody again no doubt, but I couldn't help but notice Bjarte get especially happy when he and Rei met back up and she actually hugged him while everybody was expressing their concerns and relief to us. Something else I noticed was the kind of attention that was being shared between Takashi and that one purple-haired girl with the wooden sword. Don't ask me what was so weird to me about it, there was just something about it that really caught my attention.

After a few minutes of happy reunion, that's when we all got serious again, especially when Fritjof noticed the bloody puncture wound that stained my entire leg and called the blondes attention to it. Fritjof was speaking to her in their language, so I didn't understand what was really being understood, but I had a good idea what it was, and I really didn't need people making a fuss over it right now, so I just held my hands up and shook my head in protest. As reaction to that, then Takashi and Rei and Bjarte began explaining to everyone else that I didn't speak the language.

For the next few minutes, everybody started to share with everyone else just what had happened to all of us, and I came to learn just how bad things were getting on the bus, and why they had all been inspired to leave. I especially enjoyed Ditlev's description to Takashi about how that chubby boy with the glasses actually hit Shidou in the face with a nail from his fancy little gun, and how Bjarte actually drew blood with a machete to his neck. Go ahead and call me sick for finding that enjoyable, but I know he deserved more than that, but just so long as we were all far away from him, I was just fine just as I'm sure everybody else was.

A few more minor little talks came afterwards as we all got ourselves ready to keep walking, all together this time. Rei explained to everyone how Takashi and I saved her from a lunatic, which then drew the chubby guy's attention to the rifle on my back, and I nearly had to fight him off to get him to keep his distance from me and keep his hands off my heirloom; then Bjarte finally officially introduced me to everyone else by name, good thing too, cause I was grateful to them for keeping my friends safe, and if ever the chance would come I'd be able to thank them completely, I'd prefer to call them by name.

It wasn't long after all that that the pink-haired girl began to address all of us about something, and thank god the guys were all here to help translate for me so I'd finally know just what the hell everyone was talking about. They explained to me about how they hadn't been able to find any bridges to cross the river either, and when she explained about some playground upriver that was near shallower waters, it could be somewhere that we'd be able to cross to the other side. It was a smart idea, but I wasn't comfortable about going into the water with this hole in my leg, at least not until I could get it properly sealed up. Thank god Bjarte mentioned the blonde woman was a nurse, which at least helped make Fritjof's mentioning of my leg to her earlier more sensible.

Then, just when I thought this shallow water spot was going to be our plan, Takashi apparently explained about a lot of recent rainstorms and how that area might be flooded by this point, which of course caused me to bow my head and sigh in irritation. I was so tired now, and all I wanted was to get some sleep and find some way to stop my leg from bleeding, and soon. That's when the blonde, Shizuka was what Ditlev said her name was, mentioned that the lot of us should find someplace to rest soon, and I knew she was right. The sky was already going orange, and it wouldn't be long until nightfall, and I was not going to be stuck out here in the streets in the dark, especially now that I couldn't actually run.

It was when that pink-haired one, Takagi or Saya as Takashi said her real name was, asked where we could go, that's when we got our very first actual godsend since this whole mess started. She apparently was talking about someplace that was literally within walking distance that we could be able to stay at, some apartment belonging to a friend who gave her a key. She even went on to mention a "tank-like car" that we could be able to use. That's one of the parts I was happiest about. If we could be able to get around in something as heavily-fortified as that, and this time not have to worry about murderers in our midst, then I was all for it. After all, maybe this house could also have some medical supplies, and maybe Shizuka could close up my leg.

I normally expected this kind of reaction from the girls, but I was also rather surprised when Bjarte and Fritjof and even Ditlev expressed to everyone, and then myself, their desires to actually hit the showers. I mean, Fritjof I understood, he was still practically covered from head to toe with dry blood from earlier yesterday, and Bjarte still had dry residue from when I saved him, but I personally didn't see the big deal, nothing a cold faucet couldn't handle.

By the time the discussion had come to an end, Bjarte explained that Takashi and Shizuka were going to go ahead on the bike for the apartment, and we would all follow their lead so that we could save precious time, instead of just waiting where we were and providing any **zombeja **a chance to surround us. Despite how badly I really wanted to just get some sleep, I admit it did feel a little nice to be able to walk rather than run for my life for once. At least I was able to keep my own pace without falling behind everyone else, but after a little ways, I let the rest of the group go ahead of me so I could be at the very back. I never was really good with being stuck in the middle of a crowd.

We had been going straight down the road for a while without any turns, so I felt it wouldn't hurt to just close my eyes for a bit and just let the calm silence take me in. Too bad it only lasted for a few short seconds before I heard a pair of footsteps approaching me from up front. My very first instinct was to bring the rifle out and ready to fire, but I restrained myself once I opened my eyes just to see it was Rei, who had also slowed herself down so that she could walk with me at my own pace. I didn't know what she could've possibly wanted, I felt she had thanked me enough back at the gas station the previous night. I would just look at her and she would just smile at me, and maybe it was just the orange light of the evening sun playing tricks on my eyes, but I keep thinking I saw her blush once or twice.

I was beginning to feel really uncomfortable by this point, and I knew it was only going to get worse because even if I knew what to say to make her give me my space, I wouldn't be able to say anything she'd understand. I just hoped that my attempts at not making eye contact would get the point across. I kept trying to keep my sight focused on the group just ahead of us, but then she grabbed onto my sleeve again, and then of course I couldn't ignore her anymore. When I looked down at her to try and get her to let go, the smile she had and the tears welling in her eyes just couldn't bring me to do anything. When I could feel my face growing warmer, I wanted to just slap myself and get back on track.

I really wished one of the guys would look back and see this and just tell Rei how uncomfortable I was with this. Explain to her that I was never good communicating with girls in general and that it would be appreciated if she would let go and give me back my personal space; but hell, nobody noticed a thing. I just kept thinking of how I could maybe squirm out of the grip she had on my arm, and then right out of the blue, I suddenly felt her gently kiss my cheek, whisper 'thank you' into my ear, and before I could even fully register what the fuck just happened, she had let go of my arm and had caught up with the rest of the group, leaving me completely dumbfounded.

I had come to realize just what kind of connection she and Takashi had over the time the three of us had been together, so that thought alone made me doubt this was any kind of romantic action, just another attempt at thanks, but nevertheless that was the very first time I'd ever gotten kissed by a girl. As good as that feeling felt, I already made myself swear that Takashi wasn't going to hear a single word about this.

It was well close enough to a half an hour later until we had finally gotten to Shizuka's proposed shelter, and I already liked the looks of it. It was two-stories, which I was really grateful for. I would've been much more use with my rifle from higher ground. The stone walls that surrounded the property were nice and high so no **zombeja **could climb over it, and there was even a thick metal gate that sealed off the driveway. Thankfully Shizuka was able to get the gate open so we could all get in. We all took just one look at the car, and I swear Ditlev must've been crying a bit. It was a fucking Humvee! This thing would be perfect for getting around these deadly streets, that much I already knew for certain!

All the others began discussing with each other again about some things I didn't care about, I just sat on the front bumper of the Hummer to help get my leg a much needed break. However, a few seconds later, I heard the sound of shuffling footsteps nearby. Luckily, so did everyone else, and it was then that several of Them began to climb out of the broken windows of the next-door houses, and come shambling out of the alleys towards us.

The instant we saw movement outside the fence, Takashi, Bjarte, Ditlev and Saeko were immediately going into the fray weapons ready, and I noticed a few of Them get into the fence, and I was able to make quick work of them with that Kouhta boys help as well. He had gotten a hold of Takashi's five-shooter, and I was impressed at what a good shot he was. Once all the ones who had gotten inside were dead, I just glanced at him, and I mentally swore to myself, if ever the opportunity presented itself, I was taking this guy hunting.

Thankfully, there weren't as many of Them out there as I had previously thought, and Takashi, Ditlev and the others had made really quick work out of them. I was really impressed with Saeko's style of fighting with what was essentially just a long piece of waxed wood, and Bjarte was surprisingly handy with that machete of his. I never would have guessed he would be as good with it as he was. I mean, we always knew he had a fascination with different kinds of fighting styles worldwide, but I guess we always figured it was nothing more than a fascination, rather than a desire to actually do it.

Once we were certain all of Them were dead, we all got back together behind the safety of the walls, and Takashi, Bjarte and Ditlev made sure to shut and lock up the gate behind them. Afterwards, we were all sure that for now, we were finally completely safe, so without any further hesitation we all made our way inside. Two thoughts were scratching at the back of my mind when we were all finally inside: **Kuinka kauan tämä turvallisuus todellakaan kestä?** _(F: Just how long is this safety really going to last?) _and **Olkaa siis helvetin ensiapulaukku täällä. **_(F: Please let there be a goddamn first aid kit here.)_

**Well, there you go everyone. That's chapter five, the second longest chapter I've written for anything. Man, if I thought I was having a hard time writing a chapter that was going to jump back and forth between perspectives, the next chapter is going to be quite the challenge, cause I feel that's a scene that deserves to have all four OC's retellings of it. Also, for those of you that have been seeing a bit of a difference in dialogue I've been using for the actual series' characters from the anime, that's because it's easier to just use the manga for reference as to what I should have them say, so this story is basically operating within the world of the manga, hence why the groups didn't reunite after a big badass zombie battle like in the anime. Anyway, read and review, recommend this story to any Scandinavian members if you know any, and I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. **

**Also, because I've seen a few stories on here doing this to add atmosphere or enhancement to the enjoyment of it, there are times when I will list one or more songs at the end of a chapter, and what scenes they go really well with. **

**My first example of this will be now. During the scene when Alpi describes the carnage on the main street, and the whole scene of him getting shot at and crashing, a song that really came to mind that really fit this kind of chaotic atmosphere is a song by the legendary Norwegian black metal band Mayhem, entitled Carnage. The best version of this song to listen to is from their live album, Live in Leipzig with Per Yngve Ohlin a.k.a. Dead on vocals. Now, this music is definitely not for everybody, everyone has their own individual taste in music, but just give this a shot, it's really quite enjoyable for those that don't care about whether something is made with a very low production or not. Anyway, that's all from me for now. Expect the next chapter sometime next week. Enjoy.**


	6. Kapitel Sex: Fred Men För Hur Länge?

**Well, just as I'd always been hoping, a lot of people like to read this particular story, and since I'm having a lot of fun writing this, I figured I won't be putting up these new chapters on a scheduled basis, but rather put them out whenever the next chapter is finished. Anyway, here's chapter 6, and seeing as how the chapter 6 in the manga didn't really have much in the ways of bloody violence, but had almost too much in the ways of excessive fanservice, I have to admit, this is by far the most difficult chapter I've written so far. With that in mind, I'll apologize ahead of time if this chapter doesn't turn out as good as the previous ones. Anyway, you all know the drill, read and review, recommend this story to any Scandinavian members you may know of, and above all else, enjoy. I don't own HOTD, that is the property of the Sato Brothers, all I own is the OC's, and the alternate events that occur as a result of their presence. **

**Also, halfway through writing this chapter, something got royally fucked up with my quotation marks key, but then a few days later it got itself back up to normal again, so please excuse my odd substitute for quotation marks in the middle of this chapter.**

_Kapitel Sex: Fred... Men För Hur Länge? (S: Chapter Six: Peace...But For How Long?)_

**Hej.** I suppose I'm the last one needed to be introduced, so I'll just get that out of the way. I'm Fritjof Halvorsen, born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden; 18 years of age. First year student of Stockholm University...or at least I was. I suppose none of that matters anymore, not in the world that we've all been forced to accept as our new home. This world where not even death is considered the end anymore, and everything that society has been built around is reduced to nothing but ruins. **Det är så jävla hysterisk.** _(S: It's all so fucking hysterical.)_

Well, I guess I'll just skip the unimportant details, and start off when all the other guys and I had finally finished freshing ourselves up for the first time in what felt like weeks, and finally got around to familiarizing ourselves with our new shelter, Marikawa-sensei's apartment, or at least the apartment of a friend of hers. As long as it kept those **vandrare** _(S: walkers) _as far away from us as possible, I didn't care if it was the middle of a filthy slum or the palace of Versailles.

In the time it had taken all of us to finally get all the blood and filth off in the bathroom, Marikawa-sensei had finally managed to get that hole in Alpi's leg properly cleaned and sewn up with a spare first aid kit she had kept in the bathroom. She had gone on to explain that she always had one of her friends keep any kind of basic medical supplies, simply because you never know what could happen, and for once that foolish kind of logic actually applied. According to her, it would only take a few days for the wound to close itself up, and Alpi would be back to normal, able to run with the rest of us should the situation have called for it.

It had been a while before me and the rest of the guys had finally gotten ourselves clean and back into some fresh clothes, and before you could've even gotten a word out, the girls had all gone in, and it was officially the one "no-go zone" in the house. Knowing that all of them had gone in there at once, I feared that one of us would need to keep an eye on Ditlev so as to make sure he wouldn't end up getting himself killed prematurely. Honestly, he can remain as stubborn and troublesome as a small child no matter what kind of shape the world is in. Once Bjarte had brought up some snacks he had found downstairs in the kitchen, after having gone so long without a single bite, for a moment it almost felt like nothing in the world had changed at all. It was the closest thing to bliss we'd had in a while.

Of course as we all know, all good things must come to an end. It was the far off sounds of panicking crowds of people from outside, and the light of emergency flares lighting up the neighborhood that had brought us all to full attention. Looking out the patio window at the entire neighborhood being illuminated from above by a white light, it almost gave the city a Vietnam-esque feel to it.

When none of us said anything, Bjarte noticed a small remote on the nightstand next to the large bed we were all seated on. "Maybe the TV stations are still broadcasting." he said as he turned on the large television on the opposite wall. I had my doubts about that, but if anyone perhaps had learned anything new about what was going on, that would've made it all worth it. All we saw was a single solitary anchorman looking all of us right in the eye, and in the background, there was the sound of a lot of hustle and bustle. I could only assume it meant the studios were getting ready to evacuate. Believe it or not if you want to, but thanks to Ditlev I had seen enough zombie films to know that if the studios were evacuating and switching us to some Emergency Broadcast Network, then all it really meant was that we were officially screwed. As the anchorman spoke, Ditlev made sure to translate everything for Alpi's benefit.

"Because of the alarming rate at which the 'killer disease' has spread, many of the world governments are beginning to collapse. Just before we lost contact with The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church in Vatican City, he made a statement denying that this is Divine Punishment. However, many maintain that this is indeed the case. Throughout the Middle East, multiple Islamic leaders are putting up a strong resistance against the infection. The researchers of the Ministry of Public Welfare Development who were investigating the 'killer disease' made a statement saying they were abandoning the government facilities in Tokyo. Over 2 million people have contracted the disease throughout the country. The rapid spread to 10 million people worldwide has brought society to a standstill. Due to the large number of victims to the 'killer disease', we are unable to continue broadcasting from this studio. It has been decided that we will resume broadcast once we are out at sea. We will not be airing the scheduled programming for this hour. Goodbye everyone, and...best of luck to you."

I couldn't believe it, even after all we had experienced together, I couldn't bring myself to fully believe it. Everything was falling apart. Governments collapsing, national leaders abandoning their people, rationality being reduced to rubble. I didn't want to accept it, I wanted to believe everyone was still doing all they could to fight this infection, to keep the cities safe. I wanted to believe my home was still there, I wanted to believe my parents hadn't just been left to the wolves with no hope of rescue. The fact that they hadn't mentioned anything of the situation in Northern Europe was what had gotten me the most. Had the entire Northern region been completely destroyed? Was there no sign of life out there? I wanted answers...and I feared that I was never going to get them.

I looked over everyone to see if they were even more afraid than I was. Bjarte, his expression conveyed nothing. Perhaps he was still clinging to the hope that the situation was still being kept under control back home, but I feared he may have been growing doubts after what we had just heard. Ditlev, he was simply trying to keep as calm as possible, trying to remain that same optimist we always knew him to be. However, the one thing I had never expected out of all this, was that Alpi was actually crying. He was trying to keep his face hidden from the rest of us behind the sleeves of his shirt, but we could all hear it. He had always been the most emotionally distant out of all of us, and if he had been reduced to tears, that only made everything seem so much worse than it really was. There was no telling what could've happened to his family, they always lived away from the large populations of people, and for all any of us knew, they had died a long time ago and he never would've realized it until it was far too late. That could've been the truth of the matter for all of us, and we had no way to get in contact with our own families either.

It was several minutes of this deathlike silence before any of us even thought to do anything worthwhile...and worthwhile it was indeed.

"Hey guys, I've been thinking for a bit since we got here. That Humvee outside...that's not an average car here in Japan. If anything, the only people who would really have access to one would be the people in the SAT, or the SDF." was what Takashi had said in order to break the silence, and while at first I don't think any of us really knew where he was going with this, I admit he did have a point. "So what exactly are you getting at?" Ditlev asked curiously.

"Well, I just thought that perhaps whoever Marikawa-sensei's friend is, perhaps she might be in either of those two teams." We all just looked at him, still completely clueless as to what the point was, and such a claim as what he made couldn't help but sound just a bit farfetched, to me especially. "With all due respect Komuro-san, do you have any idea what the chances of a possibility like that are?" was the very first question that came to my mind.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, and I'm sure the chances are probably astronomical, but it wouldn't hurt to check if there are any kinds of weapons being kept here. If for some reason we were forced to abandon this place and head out into the streets again, it wouldn't hurt for us to get some new weapons. Especially you, Fritjof-san. You don't look like the type for a close quarters-type weapon, so if there were to be some kind of firearm anywhere you could use, your chances of survival would become much more likely." Hirano-san interjected, and as much as I wanted to smack him upside the head for calling me frail and weak, I knew he was right. Being the indoors type, I was never that physically adept, and if anything I'd be more capable with a gun. I'd played enough computer games and seen enough films to know the basics of how they work. Still, the chances of a citizen owning an actual firearm in Japan were still very unlikely, and I really didn't want everyone to get their hopes up, just for them to be dashed. Then that's when Bjarte noticed the lockers on one of the walls.

"Well if we should start looking anywhere, maybe that locker would be a good place to start. It seems big enough for something useful." he mentioned, and once he had said that, Ditlev was already down the stairs, and just as quickly came back with a crowbar in his hand. "Figured there might be something like this in the garage. This'll get the door open in no time."

Figuring we might as well now that we thought about it, I grouped up with the others as they jammed one end into the right doorframe. Grabbing on, Bjarte started the countdown. "**En, to, tre, nå!** _(N: One, two, three, now!)_

With one strong push, we easily got the door open. While it may not have been the first thing we were looking for, it definitely was a good sign. It was loaded with multiple ammo boxes, some for pistols, some for rifles, and even shotgun shells. For once, things were actually starting to really look good for us. Alpi could see the whole stockpile from his spot on the bed, and the grin that was growing on his stubbled face was like that of a child on Christmas morning.

Now all that was left was the left door, and I think we all knew what we were bound to find in there. At least Hirano-san definitely did. Shoving the crowbar in, Bjarte gave off the countdown, and with another push, we nearly flung ourselves onto the floor, Komuro-san actually nailing himself in the head against the wall. Once we all got ourselves back together, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor at what was inside. Guns, and not just any kind either. It was like a miniature armory for a one man army from some cheesy 80's action movie.

'If this is Shizuka-sensei's friend's house...just what the hell kind of friends does she have?' was all Komuro-san was able to bring himself to say, and I agreed fullheartedly. The chances that out of all the houses we would hole up in, it would belong to an SDF member were beyond astronomical in a country with a population that was once as large as Japan. I was never one for operating by slim chances, but it seemed to be paying off now. Before any of us were even able to reach out to touch one of these weapons, Hirano-san immediately grabbed the one to the left, looking over every single little detail about it, and the grin he had on his face quite frankly scared me. It was almost like he was a completely different person.

'A Springfield M1A1 Super Match, huh? But it's only Semi-automatic. Well, the M14 Series is full-auto. This is less wasteful when it comes to ammunition.' he began simply mumbling mostly to himself, and the rest of us could just look at him with utter confusion. If anything, I think the only person amongst us who understood what he was talking about was Alpi, and that was only because he was also a really big fan of firearms. He probably could have told us the exact same details himself if he had gotten his hands on it. The expression on his face definitely told us he was thinking over all the details of each weapon in the locker and in Hirano-san's hands.

'Umm...Hirano?' Komuro-san was trying to get his attention, snapping his fingers, waving his hand in the air to try and snap him out of this psycho trance Hirano-san had gotten himself into, but it was no use. He was in his own little world now. 'This is a 20 round magazine! This is illegal in Japan...it's illegal.' and with that, Hirano-san began a quit, creepy little laugh, and I just slowly inched back, away from him. This was getting really uncomfortable, most likely for everyone but Alpi.

Right then, Hirano-san reached for the gun in the middle, and I could've sworn he was drooling in adoration at this one by now. 'A Knight's SR equipped with a scope...no. You can't get that kind of thing in Japan, so it must be an AR-10 that was modified from top to bottom.' he continued on. Honestly, I was getting really creeped out by this gun obsessing he was doing. I couldn't help but think back to earlier that day when we were leaving the bus, and he commented to that freak Shidou about being bullied and trying to maintain a normal life. Knowing he was like this, I couldn't help but wonder if he would've gone on a killing spree back in that school regardless of the dead rising or not.

'Hey, what about this crossbow here? It looks like the modern day version of something Robin Hood would've used.' Ditlev pointed out, and sure enough, there was a modern day bow and arrow set sitting against the corner of the locker. 'It's a Barnett Wildcat C5. It's a hunting crossbow made in England.' Hirano-san went on, and as soon as he was finished, Ditlev immediately grabbed it. 'Fine, that's the one I'm going with. I've had some practice with my uncle a few years back, and unlike guns, they don't kick back when you fire.' he explained as he slung the bow over his back.

At the same time, Komuro-san grabbed the very last gun in the rack, and Hirano-san looked like he was going to have a heart attack when he saw it. 'That's an Ithaca M35 Riot Shotgun! It was designed in America, and it's one of the most powerful shotguns there is! It was introduced and primarily used during the Vietnam War!' he ranted on, and we could all see Komuro-san was just as lost amongst all the worthless details as we were.

'Hey guys, there's another box down here under the bed.' Ditlev suddenly pointed out as he reached under the bed, and with a few strained pulls, he took out a large metal crate out from under the bed. Judgin by the safety locks that were keeping it closed, and after what we had just found in those lockers, it was only natural to assume there could be more guns. 'Listen, you guys can keep the guns that are in those lockers. Whatever we find in this box, depending on how many there are, we'll use the ones we find, and then give whatever remains to the girls who may need them the most, alright?' Bjarte explained to Komuro-san and Hirano-san, who both firmly nodded in agreement. By then, Ditlev had already gotten the locks undone, and opened the crate, and what was in there was more than we could possibly need. There were a few machine guns or assault rifles and a few handguns. Either way, it would be more than enough for everyone.

Of course, once the contents were revealed, Hirano-san was going on another lunatic rant over each and every single one we pulled out. First he had started with the assault rifle Bjarte had gotten out for himself. 'Oh, that's a Fabrique Nationale PS90! Belgian-made! One of the few assault rifles that actually is fed a magazine through the top of the body, and it also comes equipped with a suppressor as well!' he had begun, but it almost instantly led Bjarte to put his hand up to get him to stop.

'Hirano-san, I think we can all tell that guns hold a very close place to your heart, but if you wouldn't mind holding off on the minor details. We're not really as interested in all the details as you are. The only one here who would be as interested in all this as you are would be Alpi, and he doesn't even speak your language, so with all due respect, just tell us what these guns are and how we could use them, please?'

At first I had begun to think Bjarte might've gone too far, but Hirano-san was surprisingly fine with what was being asked of him. He went on to explain how each of us should keep a rifle and a handgun on us, just in case, and it seemed like a good idea to me, so that's what we went with. Bjarte got himself set up with the Fabrique Nationale and a SIG Sauer P239 Two-Tone, Ditlev got himself set with a SIG SG 550 and a CZ-75 pistol.

I was a bit harder to pick out something I would've been comfortable with. Being the indoors-type, I wasn't really one for needless possession of firearms, and unnecessary violence for that matter. Yes it was a stupid moral to hold onto in this chaotic world, but old habits and ways of life die hard. Eventually I settled with what Hirano-san said was a Heckler & Koch G3 submachine gun and a SIG Sauer P230 pistol, and luckily that also had a silencer attachment as well.

Alpi was adamant of sticking with his beloved rifle, and once we had explained how good he was with it, Hirano-san eventually decided to give him a pistol from his own personal recommendation, something he called a Steyr M.

We all unanimously decided that once the girls were all out we would let them decide which of the leftover weapons they would want for themselves, and Hirano-san suggested we spend our time now loading up the magazines we would need to take with us. The bullets were really damn hard to fit into these empty clips we had found, but once he had shown us the easiest and most effective way of doing it, we began to go through them pretty quickly, loading our first clips into our weapons, and loading the rest of them into a large duffle bag that had been lying in the closet.

While we had been loading the clips, Hirano-san began to explain to all of us how he had developed his extensive knowledge of all different kinds of firearms, going on to describe how he had once gone to the United States and was trained by a retired Blackwater instructor, which we all found to be just downright amazing. He was trained by a genuine member of a PMC, an honest-to-goodness mercenary. More and more it felt like my life was now being invaded by chances you'd be more likely to find in the movies.

Once we had all the ammo boxes empty, and all the weapons and magazines and clips loaded and stored, there was nothing else we could do but just try and find something to talk about, if just to make the time pass by just a little quicker. There was one thing on my mind I definitely wanted to address since we had found our little armory. 'So...judging by the kind of weapons we now have at our disposal...just what the hell do you think Marikawa-sensei's friend is? I mean, correct me if i'm wrong, but these kind of guns have got to be illegal in Japan, right?'

Hirano-san just kept looking over every single piece of hardware we had as he answered. 'You wouldn't be wrong with that assumption. These guns are illegal, and not just borderline either. I mean you would only be able to get these parts and these kinds of ammunition into this country by special order, and even then it would be illegal to own them. However, it would be a little more possible if you were say, in the S.A.T. or...' he continued before Komuro-san had suddenly interrupted, eyebrow raised.

'So, you mean to say you could be able to get this kind of weaponry if you were a police officer or something? I mean, she couldn't be just an average citizen, could she?' Hirano-san just shook his head as he took on of the assault rifles, looking over every detail, continuing on in his explanation. 'Well, there's several details to go over. First of all, she's police so she isn't married. The police usually have to live in special housing. However, looking over a room like this, it's quite possible that she probably comes from a rich family.' he went on, until Bjarte interjected with a couple theories of his own.

'That is a very good possibility. Or it could be that maybe her boyfriend is rich, or...' he suddenly brought himself to stop. 'Or what?' Komuro-san asked, and Bjarte's expression changed into a slight frown. 'She could be a **uærlig offiser.**' _(N: dishonest officer)_

'A crooked cop is what he said.' Ditlev quickly stated before either Hirano-san or Komuro-san could ask what he just said. Bjarte did have a point there. Being a police officer doesn't exactly lead to the money required for retirement, and if a law enforcement officer were to have a money to afford a house that was as nice as what we were sheltering in...it didn't seem like an impossibility. Nevertheless, the idea left us a little uneasy.

_aaa_

**Låst, lastet og klar til handling. **_(D: Locked, loaded, and ready for action) _That's the only way I could really describe the way things were looking for us once we had gotten all our new weapons ready for when we'd eventually have to leave. Yeah I was rather uncomfortable holding a real gun that was loaded, but it was knowing that I wouldn't survive without one that kept me from offering to just go with a measly fire axe. Once he had gotten his sidearm set up and holstered, Alpi had made his way to the patio just outside the open doors. I looked to see him sit himself on the only chair at the corner, and resting the body of his rifle on the railing, and then putting his face up to the scope. Once I was sure the others had their minds on discussing other things, I made my way over to him, and for a few seconds there was a lot of noise coming from behind the bathroom door. For a few seconds, I couldn't help but just picture what kind of goings on could be happening just behind that door, and it did bring a bit of a smile to my face, but just as quickly I shook my head to get the raunchy images out of my head. Right now I needed to focus and see just what Alpi was looking at. I could just think back any time afterwards.

"**Tytöt ovat tulossa melko kovaa siellä."** _(F: The girls are getting rather loud in there.) _he suddenly said as I set foot on the stone floor. Sighing, I just leaned myself forward against the railing, looking at the distant bridge where the majority of bright light was emanating from, and also the majority of the noise. "**Ja. Mens du var væk, Bjarte fortalte os, at disse zombier kun jager af lyd. At pigen med det pink hår var den, der først regnet det ud.****"** _(D: Yes. While you were gone, Bjarte told us that those zombies only hunt by sound. That girl with the pink hair was the one who first figured that out.) _I answered, yawning halfway through. I had then realized just how long it had really been since any of us had gotten a wink of sleep, and now that we weren't all running for our lives and worrying, it was finally catching up on us.

"**No jos näin on, et usko kaikki melu he tekeminen houkuttelee niitä meille, ethän?"** _(F: Well if that's the case, you don't think all the noise they're making will attract them to us, do you?) _he asked as he leveled his rifle again to be perfectly steady in his hands should he have needed to fire again. I hadn't even thought of that possibility. Naturally I was hoping that this wouldn't be the case and that we'd be perfectly fine for now. Yes we had a high stone wall and a locked and secure steel gate keeping them from us, but what if we would need to leave unexpectedly?

"**Ditlev, se kuulostaa yksi niistä poliiseille, että silta on käsitellä väkijoukkoon. Tiedät kieltä paras neljästä meistä. Käännä minulle."** _(F: Ditlev, it sounds like one of those policemen on that bridge is addressing the crowd. You know the language the best out of the four of us. Translate for me.) _As he asked this of me, I couldn't help but just be personally grateful that Alpi had at least learned to understand the languages me, Bjarte and Fritjof spoke. Yes he didn't speak them, but at least he would understand what was being said; just the same as it was for us with his Finnish. Alpi got his eye up against the scope again, and I looked over to the bridge, reaching over to shut the glass door so the noise from the bedroom and the bathroom wouldn't interrupt. Sure enough, there was the sound of a megaphone as an officer was addressing the no doubt panicked crowd of people. So desperately did I want to just go over there and tell them to stop using something so loud, because otherwise it would just attract more and more of Them to those defenseless people.

It was a little hard to make out every single word of what was being said through the collected sound of screams and protests, but I could catch enough of it. "**Hvis nogen er sinke dig, såsom for eksempel et familiemedlem, så lad dem bag.**" _(D: If someone's slowing you down, such as for instance, a family member, leave them behind.) _I started as I tried to get a better view of just what might have been going on at the bridge. It wasn't too far away from us, but it was still quite a distance. Too bad there wasn't a pair of binoculars anywhere I had looked in the house so far. I was sure Alpi would tell me what was going on as he could no doubt see exactly what was going on.

"**Bevæge sig ad. Lad dem bagefter. Den forurettede kan begynde at angribe uden varsel." **_(D: Move along. Leave them behind. The injured may begin to attack without warning.) _I went on, and I just glanced over at Alpi, and I could notice his hands were beginning to tense up as he kept looking. "**Alpi, hvad kan du se der?**" _(D: Alpi, what can you see there?)_ I asked him as I could hear the glass door slide open. Looking up, I sighed as it was just Takashi-sand and Kouhta-san coming to see where we had gone. "What are you guys doing out here?" Takashi-san asked as I just sat myself down, lying against the railing as I listened to Alpi's description, and then translating it for the two of them.

"The police have a massive barricade set up at this end of the bridge. There are armored vehicles, ambulances, fire engines, even construction vehicles making up the roadblock. There are some news vans and reporters scattered throughout as well. Some of the cops look like they're trying to get through to their stations through the walkie-talkies in their cars; but it looks like they're not getting a lot of luck, if any at all. It also looks like there's some kind of struggle in the crowds on the other end of the bridge. I think some of them are either jumping over the edge of the bridge, or they're probably throwing anyone who was bitten into the river. A few people seem to be swimming out of the river...no, hold on...it's more of Them. They either got to this point from the rivers current, or they're the ones who were thrown from the bridge. Either way, they're heading for the bridge thanks to all the noise those people are making."

My heart felt heavier and heavier with each word as I described this terrible scene to the two of them. I couldn't believe it, it hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours and already the entire populace had been thrown into this much chaos. Once again, I couldn't help but think of whether or not things back home were just as bad if not far worse. "It still feels so unreal. Almost like something straight out of a movie." Takashi-san muttered solemnly, and I could only nod my head in agreement. I looked up to Kouhta-san and he actually had a pair of binoculars up to his eyes. "Where did you find those?" I asked him as he walked over to the railing Alpi had his rifle rested on, watching the bridge with a serious grimace on his round face.

"That crate you found under the bed. Turns out the foam mat those guns were laid in was only one layer. Once we got that out, there was that pair of binoculars and a three bayonet attachments." Takashi-san explained as Kouhta-san nodded his head in an attempt to tell us to come closer to where he was. "What's going on?" I asked as he leveled the binoculars on a certain part of the bridge, near the barricade on our side of the river.

"There's something going on over there. A whole other group just suddenly appeared from out of nowhere." he muttered as Alpi leveled his rifle to where Kouhta-san was looking. "Do you think it might be more of Them that got across the river?" Takashi-san asked anxiously. Then Alpi suddenly answered, forcing me to quickly translate.

"No, it's not any of Them. It looks like a group of protestors. They seem to be lashing out at the police for some reason, they've all got these signs strapped over their shoulders and others are holding up picket signs, but I can't tell what any of them say. There's somebody leading the whole group with a megaphone." I explained as I could then hear another voice on that megaphone, much younger and angrier sounding. As he spoke, I quickly translated for Alpi, and what I was hearing made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

"**Politiet skal betale for dette undertrykkelse.**" _(D: The police will pay for this oppression.) _I started, and then continued, my voice beginning to crack as I went on listening to the protestor leaders' war cry."**Vi er folket. Dette er alle skyld i vores regering og af Amerika. ****Det er på grund af deres nye våben udvikling. De er ansvarlig for udbredelsen af morderen sygdommen. Vi vil bringe ned denne virksomhed.**" _(D: We are the people. This is all the fault of our government and of America. It's because of their new weapon development. They're responsible for the spread of the killer disease. We will bring down this establishment.) _I finally finished as I just looked over everyones expressions. Alpi had finally removed his face from his scope, and Kouhta-san and Takashi-san looked genuinely disturbed at this latest turn of events. "**Ihmiset vastustavat toisiaan, kukaan on yksi johdonmukainen puolella selkkauksen, se melkein tuntuu jotain suoraan ulos Apocalypse Now.**" _(F: People protesting against each other, nobody is on a single consistent side of the conflict, it almost feels like something straight out of Apocalypse Now.) _Alpi muttered as he took his rifle off the railing, rising up from his chair and heading back into the bedroom with his head hung down sadly. He was right, and I'm sure if the others had understood him, they would feel the same. Everything was falling apart. Nobody trusted anybody out there, fingers were being pointed, and no effort was being made to try and help each other survive it.

There was a quote mentioned in a British movie I had once seen a few years back that stuck to my mind at this moment. 'As Bertrand Russel once said: The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.' Not only was I finally able to appreciate such a saying now, but it also made me feel just that much worse. If the mass numbers of people couldn't learn to work together now of all times, I knew we would all pay the ultimate price for it now.

Once all four of us had gotten back inside, Takashi-san slid the glass door closed, and suddenly his expression changed from depression to frustration. "What are those people trying to say? Are they saying that 'They' are the result of some collaboration between Japan and the United States to develop some new kind of weapon? That's crazy! It's simply nothing more than an unexplained worldwide phenomenon that the dead are starting to rise up again and attack the living! There is no scientific explanation for it!" he exclaimed as Alpi and I just collapsed onto the foot of the bed. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed Bjarte wasn't around. Looking over at Fritjof who was now heading for the door, I couldn't help but ask.

"Fritjof, where did Bjarte go off to?" I asked as he looked over his shoulder at me, stretching his arms and yawning loudly in response. "He said that he was going to get some sleep on the living room couch. Can't say I blame him, who knows how long it's been since any of us got some sleep." he explained as he started to make his way down the stairs. "So then where are you going?" I asked, forcing him to stop again. "Well, it just occurred to me that the Hummer probably doesn't have a lot of gas. Assuming that since it's not an average vehicle in this country, there's bound to be a few reserve gas tanks in the garage. I'm gonna go and fill it up, just in case we have to leave anytime soon." With that, he was gone, and I just collapsed flat on the bed, then quickly getting back to a seated position and as I listened to Takashi-san and Kouhta-san continue discussing what we had all heard out there.

"Chances are they're just trying to rouse hysteria in the other civilians. Or maybe it's some side effect of the disease. Maybe it causes certain people to go mentally insane for a short period of time. Then again, they could just be left-wing radicals using the chaos to their advantage." Kouhta-san explained as he leaned his back against the wall, holding the rifle he had chosen for himself defensively, looking out the glass door. With that, Takashi-san just sat himself on the bed, laying his face in his hands in anxiety before quickly getting himself back together and giving a response of his own. "That seems to be the most likely option, that they're radical left-wingers trying to rally desperate people to their cause. This is the perfect time for them to do so." he answered grimly, causing Kouhta-san to furrow his brow in frustration.

"Essentially they're no different from the old school right-wing fascists of the early 20th century." he stated bluntly, causing me to just sigh in further depression. Looking out the glass door to the pitch black city skyline just on the other side of the river, I just muttered: "This really is a terrible, terrible disease. It not only brings the dead to life to eat the living, but it also leads once kind and rational people into complete madness, then the madness spreads and the whole basis of society and civilization and rationality goes straight to hell."

Takashi-san and Kouhta-san both just stared at me, looks of similar sadness and hopelessness evident in their eyes, but also of a further grim determination. "Then that means before this is all over, we all might end up the exact same way as them, Ditlev-san, Komuro-san." Kouhta-san suddenly piped in, a faint hint of one of those freaky grins of his evident on his face. Takashi-san just sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in further frustration. "Maybe. Chances are my mom's co-workers are doing something very similar out there at this moment. It's terrible, not a single one of them does anything to try and prevent bullying at their school, but once the opportunity rises, they go out of their way to protest whatever major war might be going on in a completely different part of the world, or even when it's right at home."

Once Takashi-san had mentioned his mothers co-workers at a school, it piqued my interest and I couldn't help but ask. "What exactly does your mom do, Takashi-san?" he just looked at me and smirked a little as he answered. "She's an elementary school teacher. She teaches a first-grade class at Onbetsu Elementary on the other side of the river. I get the feeling that her students probably weren't able to escape. I mean, they're only human after all."

Once he had gotten that dreadful notion out in the open, that only made my worries for my own mother that much stronger, but I tried to hide my evident fear behind my ever-present childlike grin. "Funny coincidence. My mom's a primary school teacher as well, back home in Copenhagen. She's always loved working with children, she just loved children in general. I'm almost certain that once all this started, she probably refused to leave all those little kids she worked with by themselves. If the situation back home is still being kept under some kind of control, I'd be willing to bet she's still there right now, doing everything in her power to keep them safe as long as possible..." e I had mentioned the possibility of her still being there, even risking her life to keep others safe, I couldn't keep the burning tears back any longer. I didn't even realize I had been crying until Alpi silently tossed a nearby pillow at me.

Once I had wiped the tears from my face, I looked over at my quiet friend, sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed as he used another pillow sheet to polish his rifle. "**Alpi, mens du var væk, vi havde alle forklaret, hvad vores forældre gjorde for et levende tilbage på bussen. Du er stadig den eneste i loop. Hvorfor går du ikke fortælle de fyre, hvad din folk gjorde?**" _(D: Alpi, while you were gone we had all explained what our parents did for a living back on the bus. You're still the only one in the loop. Why don't you tell the guys what your folks did?) _I asked him, causing him to just lay his rifle in his lap, and look over his shoulder at us before sighing and then explaining to us as I translated.

"My family lives a bit on the remote side, removed from the majority of people. My dad sometimes works as a hunter, but most of the time he works at a mechanic on the outskirts of Espoo. My mother works as a tailor sometimes, but for the most part she's a stay-at-home mother. My big brother is working with my dad at the mechanic, but he's trying his best to get into college so he can better his future." he replied straight out and blunt, and I explained. Then he immediately got back to polishing his rifle.

None of us could bring ourselves to say anything else for the next several seconds that followed before Takashi-san broke the silence with an attempt at a spriti lifting "Well, I'm sure they're all still doing just fine. Just because we don't know what happened doesn't mean we should just assume the worst." I could tell he didn't really fully believe what he was saying, but I just smiled to let him know I appreciated the try.

"Do you think it might be possible that your mother could be one of the protesting groups out there right now?" Kouhta-san suddenly asked as he began to make his way back out to the patio. "I mean, she isn't a left-winger is she? Or a member of the communist party?"

Takashi-san's expression changed to that of one who was heavily offended as he answered. "Of course not! My mother is still actually pretty young."

Suddenly there came the sound of multiple gunshots bursting from outside. Like he had been expecting it, Alpi was immediately back on his feet and we were all back on the patio, Takashi-san grabbing the binoculars from around Kouhta-san's neck, and Alpi taking the scope off his rifle and putting it up to his eye. "**Alpi, hvad fanden sker der?**" _(D: Alpi, what the fuck is going on?) _I asked impatiently as he slightly moved his scope to the left and right, no doubt looking over the entire bridge.

"**Se on poliisi. Näyttää siltä, että jotkut näistä siviilejä vastapäätä sillan päässä yritti saada läpi, ja poliisit ampuivat ne alas. Odota, itse asiassa se näyttää se oli pieni ryhmä zombeja tuli joukosta. On vain yksi henkilö seisoo keskellä elimissä. Hän huutaa jotain poliisille. Hän on kaikki verinen, mutta en näe mitään haavoja täältä. Hänellä on lapsi sylissään, mutta hän vain valehtelee veltto. Odota, hän liikkuu ... hyvä jumala!**"_(F: It's the police. It looks like some of those civilians on the opposite end of the bridge tried to get through, and the cops gunned them down. Wait, actually it looks like it was a small group of zombies came from the crowd. There's just one person standing amidst the bodies. She's yelling something to the police. She's all bloody, but I can't see any wounds from here. She's got a kid in her arms, but she's just lying limp. Wait, she's moving...good god!)___he suddenly exclaimed, nearly jumping back, his face having gone completely white.

"**Hvad? Hvad der lige er sket!**" _(D: What? What just happened!) _I asked him, even more frustrated then before, forcing him to bring the scope back up to his eye, his hands trembling and a sweat beginning to form on his brow beneath the brim of his hat. "**Tämä pieni tyttö hän kantoi ... vaan nousi ja repäisi että naisen kurkun pois.**" _(F: That little girl she was carrying...just got up and tore that womans throat out.) _he stammered, and I could feel a hint of bile beginning to creep up my throat from that horrific explanation. I was already at my limit, I couldn't take any more of all this chaos that was growing only worse with each passing moment, and that's when I heard the megaphone of the lead protestor again. Without even waiting for Alpi to ask me to translate, I just listened and spoke as he did.

"**Dette er på grund af den fordømte etablering. Og vi som borgere skal rejse sig mod dette. Vær venlig at stoppe denne unødvendige vildskab.**" _(D: This is because of the accursed establishment. And we as citizens will rise against this. Please stop this needless savagery.) _I solemnly said as Alpi never took his eyes off the bridge, and Takashi-san and Kouhta-san kept switching the binoculars back and forth to see what else was going to happen.

"You guys, can you pass me the binoculars as well?" I asked them as I came up to their end of the patio. They both looked at me, and with a nod, they passed me the pair, and I hesitantly brought them up to my eyes, and I could finally see everything so much clearer now. The protest leader was getting his followers all riled up now, and there was a single police officer approaching him. I couldn't catch what was being said, but it didn't look like the protestors were listening. A few more words looked like they were being exchanged, but then the officer suddenly drew out his pistol, and before the leader had even realized what was happening, there was a single deafening _bang_ and the leaders brains splattered either all over his followers or the pavement. Either way, I had to toss Takashi-san the binoculars as I ran over to the railing and heaved onto the asphalt below.

My whole body was trembling and cold as I sat down against the cold stone. I had just witnessed a living human mercilessly kill another. The image of the back of his skull exploding with that one gunshot couldn't leave my mind, it was still fresh in my mind, and it was going to haunt me for the rest of my days, every time I would close my eyes, an honest to god murder. I could only look at everyone else, and while Takashi-san and Kouhta-san looked reasonably horrified at what had just happened once they had looked at the aftermath, Alpi looked especially effected. He was clutching onto his rifle so tight his knuckles were going white, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably. The look in his eyes indicated just how badly this shocked him. He had told us of how he had to kill another living human in order to save Rei-san's life, and how the knowledge of having to do such a thing was going to haunt him forever. It was clear to me that no matter how much Alpi loved guns, and how much he preferred to have one at all times, the prospect of killing another person was something he would never ever get used to and moreover, he would never want to get used to it.

Silently, we all made our way back into the bedroom, shutting and this time locking the glass door. Kouhta-san, Takashi-san and I all just sat down speechless on the foot of the bed as Alpi sat himself against the wall near the doorframe, still clutching his rifle for dear life. Takashi-san grabbed onto the television remote and turned the TV back on. Instead of the live news feed, all we were met with was a 'technical difficulties' message displayed over a pleasant cartoon-ish backdrop.

Then just as quickly as we had turned the TV on, it immediately switched to some children's program instead. "They probably changed the broadcast so people don't see what just happened on the bridge. Best way to avoid people panicking more than they already have if they're still indoors." Kouhta-san explained as we all still just stared expressionless at the TV.

"This only shows just how much things are going from bad to worse. I don't think the authorities can do anything more about Them until it becomes daylight again." Takashi-san responded, and I only nodded slowly as he turned the TV back off. "We can't stay here, you guys. The longer we waste our time, the worse things are just going to keep getting out there, and the less likely it'll be our families will survive." I stated, and as much as I didn't want to sound like the bitter world-weary cynic, after what I had just seen, I couldn't help but speak as otherwise.

Turning my gaze from the blank television screen, I suddenly noticed the bathroom door was now open a crack. "Hey, was that door open the last time we were in here?"

_aaa_

**Muligheten til å virkelig sove. En av livets små velsignelser. **_(N: The opportunity to truly sleep. One of life's little blessings.) _After having gone so relatively long without a single wink of it since Fujimi High, I nearly lost all consciousness the instant I landed on that couch in the living room. Up until that night I'd always been a light sleeper, but now I was just a rock, nothing got to me. Not the chaotic noises Ditlev would go on to describe to me later on, or Fritjof coming down the stairs or anything. I was finally able to detach myself from this undead world if not for just a few precious hours. At least that's what I had been desperately hoping for, rather than just getting a lousy half hour before I suddenly heard: "Komuro-kuuuuuuuun!" followed by a collection of surprised shouts through the ceiling.

"Marikawa-sensei, are you drunk!" I could hear Takashi shouting, and goddamit, I so desperately wanted to go up there and tell absolutely everyone to shut the fuck up. Alas, being raised to be so polite has its drawbacks when it comes to personal benefits such as this. Cause the goddamn noise didn't end! "Kouhta-chaaaaan!" I heard Marikawa-sensei go on, followed by a high-pitched squeal, and the sound of someone collapsing on the floor. Not even a minute, and already I was sick to death of all the noise. Yes, I could have just gotten off my ass and done something about it, but you've no doubt never gone nearly two whole days without a single wink of shut eye at all, all the while having to fear for your life out on those streets out there.

Tossing and turning, I finally just buried my face into the first pillow I could find, and then grabbing another, and sandwiching my head between the two. For a second, it sounded like everything was silent again, but then just like clockwork: "Ditlev-kun, you're so small! You're so small and so cuuute!" she slurred loudly, and I could hear Ditlev yelling in protest, and then suddenly his protests being muffled by something I'd rather not guess. Either way, that was it.

Kicking the covers I had found from the closet away, I made my way up the stairs, my eyelids heavy and my head swimming, forcing me to grab the rail for balance cause I was so exhausted. I kept making my way up step by step until I got to the very top, where I had to stop dead in my tracks upon turning the corner to the bedroom. "R-Rei?"

Standing right there in front of me in the doorway with her back turned to me was Rei dressed in only a pink tank top and nothing else but panties from the looks of it. When she turned around to look at me, I was half expecting a slap to the face for seeing her in such an exposed manner, but instead she actually smiled at me, but the unsteady walk she made towards me didn't seem right. Neither did her way of talking for that matter either.

"Oooh, Bjarte-saaan...w-where have you been all this time?" she said slurring all her words, and nearly tripping over her own feet, forcing me to bring my arms around her waist and hold her up against me in order to keep her on her two feet. When I looked at her, she just looked right back, right into my eyes, and for a moment, I felt my heart starting to race at just how close our faces were. Then the very next moment I had to reel my head back, trying my best not to gag. "**Gode gud Rei, hva faen gjorde du drikker? Uansett hva det er du dunst av det!**" _(N: Good god Rei, what the hell did you drink? Whatever it is, you reek of it!) _I grumbled in exaspiration, earning myself nothing more than a short drunken laugh from her in response. Funny, it was then of all times that I had come to notice just how sweet her voice was.

"Nevermind, let's just get you seated alright? You can't walk right now." I muttered as I got her down onto her knees at the top of the stairs, and she was still giggling the whole time. Why Marikawa-sensei would let her or any of the other girls have whatever foul liquor she smelled of was beyond me, and I wasn't in the mood to ask such questions. I looked through the doorway to the bedroom, and nearly dropped my jaw. Takashi was holding an unconscious Kouhta by the collar lightly slapping him in the face to snap him out of whatever stupor he was in, Alpi was right next to the doorway, clutching his rifle and trembling in fear, though I'm willing to bet it wasn't because of anything that had been happening here. However, the most unexpected, yet funniest part was what happened to Ditlev.

Splayed out on the bed dressed in nothing but a loosely fitted bath towel was an unconscious Marikawa-sensei and she had her arms wrapped around Ditlev's back, and his face was being...well, smothered if you will. Looking at his arms and legs, it looked like he was still trying to squirm his way out, but it didn't really look like he was making any kind of effort. Just from what little of his face I could see, his face had gone completely red.

After looking over the scene, I turned my gaze back to Takashi. "Is Kouhta-san gonna be alright?" I asked him concernedly. Takashi just glanced at me and briefly nodded. "Yeah, Marikawa-sensei just came right out of nowhere and was all over the three of us. She got him up against a wall, one kiss and he was out like a light." he briefly went on, continuing to shake Kouhta by his collar. "Come on man, snap out of it."

Before I could ask anything else, I suddenly felt Rei throw her arms over my shoulders from behind, practically throwing herself onto my back. I guess I don't need to tell you just how flustered I was now, or how red my whole face got knowing she had her entire body up against me like this. My legs were trembling at the knees, and it took much more effort than you think to keep my cool. I mean, I would be lying to you if I were to say I didn't really enjoy this feeling, but regardless of enjoyment or not, embarassing moments remain embarassing moments either way.

"Bjarte-kuun, you and Takashi makes three..." she slurred with a smile on her face, and this time the both of us were completely taken aback at what the hell that was supposed to mean. I just looked and Takashi was going completely red in the face, not out of anger but out of embarrassment. Now he must've known how I felt. "I-I'm just gonne get her to lie down." I stammered as I began to make my way through the hall to the smaller bedroom at the end, still carrying Rei on my back, trying harder than anything else to ignore the overall sensation of her warm soft body completely pressed up against me. To be honest, I was loving this feeling, yet at the same time I was extremely uncomfortable. As much as I may have liked Rei, whether as a friend or anything else, I honestly felt she deserved Takashi more than anyone else.

As I continued my way down the hall, I just looked to see Rei had rested her head on my shoulder, and my heart was pounding once again at just how close she was. "Um...Rei, if Marikawa-sensei offered you all sake, why'd you take it?" Yes, stupid question to ask at the time, but I couldn't come up with any other words to form, I was so flustered.

"Well, I was tired. Sooo much has happened...a-and Hisashi's dead too." she slurred, her voice shaking and tears beginning to form in her eyes as she mentioned Hisashi again. I could hear her beginning to openly weep on my shoulder, but I didn't dare say anything else. Seeing as none of us truly knew if our families were dead or alive, essentially Rei and Takashi were the only people to actually lose someone since this all started; Rei lost a boyfriend, and Takashi lost one of his best friends, a best friend he was forced to kill. I knew such a tragic burden was always weighing heavily on both their shoulders, and there was nothing I or anyone else could say to make that pain go away.

I'd gotten the door to the guest room opened, and I gently laid Rei onto the bed. She had completely slipped into unconsciousness in just those short moments. Whether it was the sake or an attempt to try and make the sad memories go away just for a little while, I wouldn't ever know. It didn't make any difference either way. All I knew was that when I looked down at her, looking so peaceful yet more vulnerable than I had ever seen her before, I swore to myself that I would do anything in my power, be it with or without Takashi's help, to help her survive this nightmare.

I just couldn't take my eyes off of her peaceful face as she slept. I admit, ever since I'd first met her those few months ago, I always thought she was one of the prettiest girls I'd ever met, but this was honestly the first time I truly was able to take in every detail, from her flowing golden brown hair with those two unusual antennaes, to her flawless delicate looking face. Now I couldn't help but just think to myself: she really was the most beautiful girl I'd ever met, even moreso than any of the ones I'd ever spoken to back home.

"You've already lost so much Rei. Don't worry, though. Whether it's with Takashi's help, or mine or both of us together, I give you my word that nothing will happen to you. I'll see to it nothing happens to any of us." I whispered to her as I took one of her hands in my own. "We will all get through this. I swear this to everyone, we will all survive this." I continued, my voice beginning to tremble as I could feel the stinging of tears at the back of my eyes.

Blinking the tears away, I just gazed on Rei's peaceful expression for a few seconds more, then without even realizing what I was doing until it had already been too late, I actually leaned my head closer to hers, brushing a few stray locks of her hair from her face, and placing a single gentle kiss on her forehead. I couldn't believe what I just did, but for some reason, it actually felt...right to me. It made me feel just a little bit more at peace. Reaching to pull the blankets down as I began fitting her underneath, I whispered into her ear, something my mother would always say to me and my sister when we were younger. "**Nyt denne fred. efter dette etter. Dette er en ting som ingen vil være i stand til å ta fra deg.**" _(N: Enjoy this peace. Cherish this serenity. This is one thing that nobody will be able to take from you.)_

_aaa_

**En fullständig klipp och en full bil. **_(S: A full clip and a full car.) _What more would the lot of us be able to ask for? The gas tanks I had noticed in the garage were a lot bigger than I expected, and therefore a lot heavier, and seeing as I'm not the most physically fit of the bunch, it took a while for me to empty the whole lot of them and get the Humvee back to a full tank. I couldn't help but widely smile to myself at this job well done. Ever since the apartment, I'd felt like I hadn't contributed anything to our survival effort, and I was constantly trying to find some way to really be useful, but unfortunately there wasn't going to be much need for a computer geek in this new world I figured.

Over the whole time I'd been fueling, I had heard all the new noises coming from that bridge. All the screams, the megaphones, and the gunshots. I tried so hard to just ignore it all, ignore the world going to hell just outside these stone walls, but each time I heard a straggling **vandrare **shambling by just outside the gate, my hair would stand on end.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I cracked my knuckles and made my way back into the house. I was grateful for the inviting warmth of the indoors as soon as I stepped inside. I was so glad that things hadn't gone so bad that the city power grids had to be shut down. Best to enjoy each moment of it while it would last.

I made my way into the living room, and was taken by surprise to find Takagi-san laying on the couch, but what got me was the rather revealing shorts and tank top she chose to wear. I tried my best to avoid staring lest she wake up suddenly, and I began to make my way to the stairs when I suddenly heard another voice call out from the kitchen.

"Is that Komuro-kun? Could you tell everyone that dinner will be ready soon? I'm making us lunch for tomorrow." I couldn't help but just sigh with a smile when I recognized it was just Busujima-san. I turned on my feet and headed for the corner to the kitchen. "Sorry Busujima-san, it's just me. I was just filling the humvee with some gas I found and I...**ÅH HERREGUD! **_(S: OH MY GOODNESS!) _I suddenly shouted at what I had just witnessed.

Right in front of me in full view, Busujima-san was standing at the stove wearing absolutely nothing but a white frilly apron and a black G-String, not even wearing a bra underneath. I nearly slapped myself across the face to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me or that my glasses hadn't been broken and I was just seeing things. Nope, this was the real thing I was beholding, Busujima-san standing there in all her glory, practically naked and without even so much as a care in the world on her calm demeanor.

"Oh, Fritjof-kun. Is something wrong?" she asked me with a hint of concern, and I practically fell flat on my ass and back up against the lower cupboards. I could not take my eyes off of this vision, no matter how much I tried. I couldn't even form the words in my mouth, all I could do was just stare and pray she wouldn't beat the hell out of me for it. It was a few unbearably awkward moments before she realized just what had gotten me so speechless.

"Ooh, this." she said as she lifted the aprons shoulder straps to emphasize the unusual attire. "Well, there weren't any clothes in the closet that would fit me, so I'm just wearing this until the laundry finishes. I also threw yours and the others in as well." she continued, and her face didn't even go a single shade of red at all despite looking like this in full view of me. "I-I see." I stuttered, and that was all I could say. Never before had I ever seen a girl look like this, not in a movie, not in anything.

"This is a truly shameful outfit. I apologize." she continued, now looking a bit more uncomfortable in the raunchy get up, and I couldn't shake my head or nod or anything. All I could do was just try to think of something else to talk about, just to releave the unbearable embarrassment. "No, no, really. That's not it. I-I was just worried about whether or not there was any way more of Them could get in t-that we didn't know about." I quickly lied, putting on the biggest, yet still most embarrassed smile I could muster.

Busujima-san just looked at me for a second, and then she just gave me that heartwarming smile like she had given back on that bus, and just giggled for a second. "Fritjof-kun, I must say I respect just how much you, Komuro-kun, Hirano-kun and all the others care about all our safety, taking so many cautions all the time. I admit, all the checking and evaluating every one of you has done since we got here has given me a lot of confidence, and some much needed peace of mind."

I only gave off a crooked half-smile in response, nervously pulling the collar of my shirt, and I could feel my face growing hot again. This was such an unusual feeling for me, feeling like my chest was close to bursting, my whole body growing hot, and me being unable to say anything without practically shoving my foot in my mouth. I knew what it felt like to like a girl, I'd had a previous experience of it back in Stockholm, but this was something much stronger, and I didn't understand it. Essentially, I only knew Busujima-san for only a day, and already I had come to be like this when she complimented me, no matter how much I felt I didn't earn such praise from anyone.

"Please, you're too kind, Busujima-san. I haven't done anything worth praising at all since we all got together." I answered with a meek sleight of my hand, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling this gave me. "That's not true, Fritjof-kun." she suddenly interjected before I could continue.

"You've done quite a few things that deserve my respect, even if you may not realize it." she had begun to explain, approaching me with a single step with each sentence, and I could tell that every word she said, she meant every last bit of it. "When this all started, when everything around us fell apart, and you had nothing with which to defend yourself, you never gave up on going through streets filled with death, all just to try and save Bjarte-kun. When things around us got desperate and bleak on that bus, you kept a cool, level head the whole time, all just to help keep the group from falling apart from stress and desperation. Even now, you even said you had thought ahead and allowed us a better chance of escaping with the Humvee outside." By this point, she practically had me up against the counter with nowhere else to go, and she had her face less than five inches from mine, and I felt like my heart was going to give out when I saw her clear blue eyes looking directly into mine.

"So you see, just because you may not take part in the combat, it doesn't mean you don't ever do anything useful. You do your own set of things that help keep this whole group together, and that alone earns you my utmost respect." she finished off with that angelic smile before turning back to keep working on the food, and I couldn't bring myself to move an inch.

Then I heard the sound of what I could only describe as loud moaning coming from the floor above. For the briefest moment I thought if was one of Them, but then I realized it was just one of us, and to me it sounded like Rei. "Miyamoto-san is really lucky." Busujima-san suddenly said with a smile as I just looked from the stairs to her, a bit of confusion no doubt evident on my face. "What do you mean, Busujima-san?"

Instead of an answer, she gave a slight little giggle again and just glanced at me over her shoulder, that smile never leaving her face once. "Fritjof-kun, I think it's safe to say by now that we're friends. So please, just call me Saeko." she said to me, an even balance between sincerity and seriousness in her tone. 'Uh, a-alright, if that's really okay with you Busu, er, I mean Saeko." I answered nervously scratching at the back of my head with my eyes glued to floor. I glanced up after a second and saw she was still smiling at me. "It's okay, just practice saying it in the meantime and you'll eventually get used to it."

I nodded with a smile as I returned my gaze to the stairs, listening to Rei's further moaning. "Anyway, what did you mean by saying that Miyamoto-san's really lucky?" I asked her, listening for any footsteps that would follow. "What I mean is she's got two brave boys with kind hearts to help get her through all that has happened, and all that will happen."

For a moment, her statement had me a little perplexed. Judging from the little interaction I had seen occur when the two were together, I had come to assume there was something more behind her friendship with Komuro-san, but who else really was there? "Well, I have a feeling that you're referring to Komuro-san, but who else could there be?" When she didn't answer and just looked at me with that smile, it occurred to me that what she meant, was that the other should be fairly obvious.

"What, you mean Bjarte?" I asked, pointing a finger up the stairs, eyebrow raised. In return, she only slightly nodded her head before returning her attention to the cooking. That had me completely thrown for a loop. I knew Bjarte had spoken to us a lot about her back when he had first gone to that Fujimi High, and he sounded like he was really happy to have gotten to know her and become friends with her, but it never once struck me that there was a chance he had come to feel more.

He was never even all that good at hiding such feelings when there was a girl he had come to like back home. This either meant that he had helped himself to become better at hiding such big emotional breakthroughs, or it meant that this was the very first time he really did feel such a way towards a girl.

_aaa_

Once I had gotten Rei comfortably tucked under the sheets, I began to make my way back to the stairs, taking a minute to look back into the main bedroom. Takashi was leaning against the railing of the patio, and at least Kouhta was back to normal again, sitting on the only patio chair and gazing out at the city through his rifle scope. Alpi was still sitting against the wall next to me, only now I think he was sleeping. Looking up, I just shook my head with a grin seeing that Marikawa-sensei still had Ditlev helpless in her arms and his head stuck in...well, I'm not gonna go there, I think you can figure it out for yourself.

Takashi soon got back up and made his way back into the bedroom, making his way towards me. "So is she asleep?" he asked as he looked back down the hall to her room. "Yeah. She practically went out like a light as soon as I started carrying her here. Whatever she and Marikawa-sensei were drinking, must've been some really powerful stuff." I mentioned as I just yawned and looked back down the stairs.

Suddenly, I heard a loud pained moan coming from Rei's bedroom. "Nevermind. Sounds like the hangover decided to drop by early." i muttered with a groan as we both listened to her. "Takashiiii...Heey, Takashiii..." she was groaning in a barely intelligible slur.

I just looked at him and stretched out my arm towards her room. "Go right ahead, man. I'm exhausted and I need to get some shut eye myself. Besides, you know her way better than me, so you'd probably know how to talk to her better." With that, he just nodded and made his way into the room, shutting the door behind him.

Stretching my arms and back to relieve the stiffness, I began to make my way back down the stairs, and halfway down I noticed Takagi-san had come out of nowhere and took my only sleeping spot. Looking over, I also noticed Fritjof and Busujima-san were both standing side by side in the kitchen, working over the stove. "I'm not much of a handyman, but perhaps I could help with something around here?" he asked shyly, and I couldn't blame him. I couldn't believe what she was wearing. However, I couldn't help but smile at this scene.

Fritjof never really had much when it came to social skills, especially when it came to talking to new people. Now however, he was doing it quite well, the two really seemed to enjoy each others company. With a sigh, I made my way back up the stairs and made my way towards Rei's bedroom door. Without a word, I just laid myself flat on the carpeted floor up against the wall, listening to Takashi and Rei talk to each other on the other end as I slowly drifted into unconsciousness with each dragging moment.

"Whenever I'd want to go out, you were always busy or something. That's why...I was with Hisashi." I heard Rei say softly, but suddenly Takashi burst out in anger, nearly forcing me to leap halfway across the hall from such a sudden reaction. "SHUT THE HELL UP! IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT HISASHI! I'M NOT HIM!" he shouted, and when I turned, I could see it got a reaction out of Alpi. He was already halfway down the hall with rifle at the ready, until I got back up and held my hands up to get him to stop. Motioning for him to stay quiet, I made my way to the door and had my ear up against it to listen more closely.

"Besides...he's dead. He turned into one of Them, and I killed him. And you? You have to face the facts! We're still alive. And we're going to stay alive. I know we will. I'm sure of it. That's why when you bring him up, I..." he had continued, but then suddenly stopped, and then there was nothing but pure silence. In fact, I would dare say it was like all sound of the natural world had just left that entire house. I could even hear the distant sounds of the outside, the sounds of more screaming, of heavy vehicles, a solitary gunshot. Only it felt like the sounds were right next to me, pounding into my head.

Then I could suddenly hear Rei's voice again, and for once she didn't sound hung over anymore. "Takashi...what's wrong?" There was another few seconds of silence before he muttered, clearly uncomfortable with whatever was going on in there. "I-It would be bad if we went any further."

That was when I just took my ear from the door and turned and slowly made my way down the hall. Alpi just looked at me, and when I didn't answer, I suppose he just gave up as well and made his way with me into the main bedroom. Thankfully nobody noticed the one single tear I had shed. I knew it wasn't right for me to cry, this was only something natural, something that was meant to happen. I basically knew from the very beginning when I'd first met them that Takashi had feelings for Rei, and it was almost too clear that there was something similar coming from her as well.

It was only natural that the two of them would come together like this now when there's actually a moment of peace. Still, why was I so upset by hearing this? Yes, it's true I had no idea what was happening behind that closed door, but just thinking about it just seemed to make me feel worse. It just didn't make any kind of sense to me. I literally felt lost in the sea of my own mind for those few painful minutes.

Then suddenly, I heard a noise from the outside, but this wasn't coming from the bridge. It was much, much closer. Like a shot, I was out on the patio, and Alpi had grabbed onto Ditlev's leg and literally dragged him out of bed, and miraculously, he didn't even make Marikawa-sensei stir at all. He soon got back to consciousness himself, and was soon joining us as well. "What's going on? Is that a dog barking out there?" he asked tiredly as we all gathered at the railing, soon joined by Takashi and Rei as well.

"Hirano, what's going on?" Takashi asked, panic evident in his tone as Kouhta glared at the street just below us, his brow furrowed and the cold hard gaze visible beneath his glasses. "It's bad, everyone. Very bad."

Looking down over the railing, I knew we all could see just how bad things were about to get. Standing in the middle of the road was a small white dog, no doubt a puppy, yipping and barking wildly at every single one of Them that was mindlessly shambling across the streets. Gritting my teeth, I looked, and all our worst fears were coming to life. That fucking mutt's barking was attracting every single one of Them from all over the neighborhood, and soon there were several dozen of Them congesting the road, and every single one was headed right for our house.

**Well everyone, there's chapter 6 for all of you. I was right, this really was a difficult chapter for me to write. I really didn't know what I wanted to do in regards to setting up the foundations to what new relationships may or may not happen later on. What was really difficult for me was writing up something for Bjarte and Rei. See, most of the time when I write an OC love story, I usually made it so that their canon love interest was either an abusive prick, a lecherous wanker, or both. But the reason for those experiences was because I flat out hated those characters to begin with. Not so with this series. In this series, I actually like and respect Takashi's character, and I am therefore struggling in keeping the Takashi/Rei pairing existent in this story, while also trying to incorporate at the very least, the possibility of a pairing of a similar calibre for Rei and Bjarte. I'm sure I'll come up with a sensible way to further that plot device later on. **

**Anyway, you all know the drill by now. Read, review, request to any Scandinavian members you might know, or a site friend of yours might know; and most importantly, I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it.**


	7. Kapitel Syv: Den, Der Sparer ét Menneske

**Hi everybody. Well, this officially marks what will no doubt be the longest thing I've ever written. Seriously, I've looked over all the chapters of the HOTD manga I've covered so far, all of those were an average of 30 pages. This one: 56 FUCKING PAGES! You have no idea how close I was to making this chapter a two-parter. But you all deserve better than that. So to show you all my appreciation for your constant reading of this story, here's Chapter 7 for all of you. You all know the drill. Read, review, recommend to any Scandinavians you or a friend online might know, and most importantly, enjoy. I don't own HOTD, the Sato Brothers do. I only own the OC's, and whatever pairings may come to be as a result of their presence, and the changing of events as a result of their presence. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Also, much like last chapter, halfway through this thing, my quotations key got screwed up again, so halfway through, I'll once again be using my same alternative as last chapter in place of quotes. If this ends up becoming a repeating problem like I'm fearing, this may become something of an expectancy in later chapters as well, so I figured I might as well give you all the heads up ahead of time. **

_Kapitel Syv: Den, Der Sparer ét Menneskeliv, Redder Verden Hele (D: Chapter Seven: He Who Saves One Life, Saves The World Entire)_

**Hvordan skete det? **_(D: How did this happen?) _The last thing I remembered was suddenly getting grabbed by a drunken Marikawa-sensei, nearly getting smothered like a little girls' abused teddy bear, then Alpi grabbing me and dragging me out of bed by my leg. Next thing I know, I'm out on the balcony with almost everybody, and finding a steadily growing horde of **zombier**_(D: zombies) _filling the street just outside our doorstep, drawn by a loudmouthed little dog. Nobody was able to say anything at all, cause I think we all collectively knew we were royally screwed now. There was a deafening blast down on the street, and when we all looked, there was a single living man running down the street, weaving between multitudes of Them, firing a shotgun at clusters of Them, reducing the bodies to splattered meat. I'm sure my stomach was twisting at the sight, but I didn't feel a thing. I officially knew from what Takagi-san had mentioned a while back. Both that dog and that man were making way too much noise, and it was only going to attract more and more **zombier **with each passing second.

Unfortunately, just as was expected by now, the guy was suddenly out of ammo, and before he could even begin to reload, an entire mob of Them swarmed on him, and his dying screams of agony echoed throughout the empty night air, and we could all too clearly hear the sound of him getting his limbs torn off, and the collective groans of the dead as They ate whatever part of him They could get their hands on. All the while, that dog just kept on barking nonstop.

None of us could bring ourselves to do anything. All we could do was just stand on that balcony, and just listen and watch as more and more of Them came, congesting the street more and more. Alpi was just watching through his detached scope along with Kouhta-san and Takashi-san, while Busujima-san had come up shortly after we had all gathered, and had taken the binoculars so that she could've observed as well. I still had no idea where Fritjof and Takagi-san were, and almost as soon as we had seen the one shotgun man step out into the open, Rei was almost instantly back in the house and down the stairs. I'm guessing she knew what was going to be in store for him like we all did, only she was smart enough to try and avoid witnessing it.

It was several minutes of this dreaded observation before Takashi-san finally just slammed his fist into the railing, his face bristling with anger. "Dammit! This is just too cruel to just stand here and do nothing!" he exclaimed as he began to turn and head back into the house. "Komuro!" Kouhta-san suddenly yelled after him, forcing him to stop and look back at us. "What?"

"Do you think we should shoot?" Kouhta-san asked grimly, his grip tightening on his gun. Takashi-san's face was just filled with shock and frustration as he exclaimed: "Isn't that obvious! Of course we shoot Them!" Just as he began to continue on, Busujima-san suddenly spoke up. "Have you already forgotten? They react to sound, Komuro-kun." she said calmly as she followed after him, prompting the rest of us to follow suit. She then made way for the wall, flicking the switch to turn off the bedroom lights. "What are you doing, Busujima-san?" Bjarte asked confusedly as she looked back at us.

"There's something else we all need to take into consideration right now. Survivors will come flocking to this place if they see the lights and our figures through the windows. However, even if we use everything we have, we don't have the power to keep that many people alive." she explained, leaving the rest of us completely speechless. It wasn't even a second before Bjarte answered: "So you're just suggesting we stay in here sitting in the dark while people looking for shelter die out on the streets?"

Busujima-san just looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowing. "Yes, Bjarte-kun. That is what I'm saying." Bjarte's face was nearly glowing red with anger, accentuated by his full head of curly dark-blonde hair. "That's not right. I know that what you're saying makes sense, Busujima-san. But those people deserve just as much a chance at survival as we do! Leaving them out there to get eaten like animals and ignoring their cries for help is just inhuman!"

"Without a second of warning, Busujima-san had suddenly turned on her heels and smacked him across the face with a deafening _clap._ "I don't like the idea anymore than you do, Bjarte-kun. However, you have to understand that we can't afford to help each and every person that we meet out there! They have to survive out there on their own. That's exactly what we're doing. I'll understand if all of you disagree." she said, now looking over all of us, looking us each in the eye and looking us all over carefully and considerately. "I know from both seeing and hearing, that in spite of severe circumstances, each and every one of you stood up like men and faced Them at the risk of your own lives. However...if you must be reminded, go out there on that balcony and look for yourselves." she said coldly, pointing out towards the balcony behind us, holding the binoculars in her hand.

"I strongly suggest you each get used to it. By now, the world we once knew has become a place where those with noble causes alone won't survive." she finally finished. Without so much as a word, looking up at her I just held my hand out, taking the binoculars out of her hand. With that, she began to make her way down the stairs before Takashi-san just muttered: "I think we had all gotten the impression that you thought differently, Busujima-senpai." that made her just stop in her tracks, and for a few seconds, she didn't look at us or say anything. Then she looked over her shoulder and answered: "Don't get the wrong idea, Komuro-kun. I'm simply stating the facts for the benefit of all of don't have to like it or anything." With that, she continued making her way down the stairs and was out of sight.

I looked over at Bjarte who was now rubbing his hand against the left side of his face, his expression completely dumbfounded. "you okay, Bjarte?" I asked him worriedly. Lowering his hand, he just looked at me and just nodded. "I'm fine." he grumbled as we all made our way back out to the balcony. Lining ourselves up at the railing, Kouhta-san looked up at us from his seat on the chair, smiling that freaky smile at us. "If you guys are going to look outside, make sure you do it discreetly. Don't want to be seen by someone dangerous." he said as we all got down on our knees, our head barely peeking over the railing that lined the solid stone wall.

I brought up the binoculars as everyone else raised their scoped weapons to get a better look down at the street. The very first thing any of us saw was a single man who had most likely attempted to run through the crowds of Them, but to no avail. He couldn't even scream as his voice box was getting torn out by one, whle the others were either ripping off his arms or chewing his torso open. This time, I did feel my stomach turn as he was literally torn to pieces by Them. "This is hell." Takashi-san muttered, clearly horrified at all there was to see.

I brought my gaze a bit closer to the buildings across the street. There was another survivor who had made his way through a small group as he ran into the yard of another house. He was desperately pounding at the front door, screaming for someone to let him in. He never got that answer. Within seconds, another mob of Them had closed in on him from behind, and all we could hear was his final screams as They all swarmed him, bringing him down to the ground, his one hand still clutching the doorknob as They tore him apart. I couldn't handle looking at this anymore. I just turned around and sat myself down against the wall, holding my hand over my mouth to avoid wretching a second time. I know we had all decided to look out there in order to help prepare ourselves for what we would have to face out there, but I just couldn't take seeing all these people getting eaten alive, torn apart by what used to be their fellow men and women and children.

"Oh my god, look." Bjarte piped in, his voice visibly trembling, which drew everyone's attention further up the street from where I had last looked. I wearily got back up on my feet and brought the binoculars up to see what else was going on. Further up the street, running towards our direction, was a middle aged man holding the hand of a little girl, weaving their way through a few stragglers towards another house.

Who I could only assume was the dad got the front gate open and they were immediatley running for the front door. He had started pounding at the door, yelling for whoever was in there to let them in. I had a feeling there was someone there because that was the only other house in this neighborhood I could see that still had lights on inside. He continued knocking at the door for a few seconds until he suddenly stopped, taking a step back. He then reeled his arms back, carrying what looked like a large wrench and started shouting something about breaking the door down.

Then, the door actually opened. I was relieved that this meant somebody out here now had a better chance of survival. That was the feeling I had, but I wanted to keep watching just to make sure they'd make it in alright. I lowered my binoculars for just a second, wiping away the cold sweat I had been feeling for the last several minutes. I then brought the binoculars back up again, and I couldn't believe what I saw next.

Whoever was inside that house had suddenly jabbed what looked like a butchers knife duct taped to a long pole, right into the fathers chest. I couldn't get a view of whoever was in the house, and just as instantly as they had opened the door, they tore the knife out and shut the door on the two of them again. I just kept watching as the father stepped back, collapsing onto the ground against the stone wall that lined the yard.

His daughter came running to his side, holding onto his hand for dear life. It looked like he said something to her, I couldn't get a good look at his face anymore, but then I saw his hand go limp, and the little girl just clung onto him for dear life, crying out so much that I could hear her even from here. We all could. When I brought my binoculars down again, I realized I had just been crying without even realizing it, but how couldn't I? That girl...she couldn't possibly have been any older than 9, 10 at the most. And she had just seen her father die right in front of her.

"Shit." I heard Takashi say through clenched teeth as I brought the scopes back up. This was even worse than I had feared. That girls crying was now attracting several of Them right to her. **Nej! **_(D: No!)_ I told myself. **Nej! **I didn't care what Busujima-san said, I was not going to let a child die like that! I knew it, none of us were. "Let's rock n' roll!" Kouhta-san suddenly howled with excitement as he and Alpi simultaneously fired two shots from their rifles, instantly nailing the two closest to that little girl. Perfect, clean headshots.

Getting up on my feet, I slapped a hand on Kouhta-san's shoulder. "Kouhta-san, you and Alpi keep your eyes on that gate, and don't let a single one of Them get in!" I was suddenly barking orders at him as if I were some kind of Danish Patton-clone or something. "Roger!" he said in response, that large excited smile never leaving his face as he suddenly capped another one right in the temple. I then placed my other hand roughly on Alpi's shoulder, and he didn't even glance at me as he fired another round of his own, never missing his mark. "**Alpi, du bare gøre, hvad du gør bedst, og give dem helvede!**" _(D: Alpi, you just do what you do best and give Them hell!) _I shouted into his ear to break through all the deafening rifle blasts. He just nodded his head once before firing another shot, practically obliterating one of Their heads into a fine red mist.

Wasting no time, I was immediately heading back into the house, Bjarte and Takashi-san following after me. "Well Ditlev-san, when did you suddenly become the no nonsense, nerves-of-steel commander?" Takashi-san asked jokingly, although clearly impressed with this sudden change of attitude I had. Not even bothering to turn back to look at him, I just said: "When I saw Them getting ready to eat a **lille pige **_(D: Little girl)_, that's when!"

I kept making my way for the stairs, being sure to grab my now trusted fireaxe from the corner, as I heard Bjarte and Takashi-san start talking amongst each other. "Takashi, why did you just put the shotgun away! If we're even thinking about going out there, you'll need that at your side at the very least!" he was yelling in confused frustration, to which Takashi-san only answered: "I have no idea how to use it."

"Well I don't have any idea how to use my gun either, but I at least know to keep it with me!" Bjarte argued as we continued our way down. Halfway down the stairs, we passed by Rei who looked at us confusedly as we all three made a beeline down past her.

"Takashi? Bjarte-san? Guys, where are you going in such a rush?" she asked concernedly as we all stopped. "We're going to rescue a little girl." Takashi stated as I turned to look up at her to see what her reaction was going to be. With almost no hesitation, her expression became much more serious. "Then I'm going with you guys."

As soon as those words left her lips, Bjarte was the one to put his foot down in response. "No, Rei. There's too many of Them out there, and since we're going out there, we'll need you and everyone else to manage the gate so They don't get in." The way he said this, I'd never heard Bjarte talk like this with anyone. It was like the perfect balance between stern and soothing. Rei remained completely at a loss for words for only a moment or two before she looked back down towards us, the concern never leaving her. "But if there's so many of Them out there, how are the three of you even going to hope to get through? It's suicidal." she exclaimed.

That look of foolish confidence never left Takashi-san's face at all. I knew he wasn't as sure about this sudden plan of ours succeeding any more than anyone else was, but I did rather admire how he always tried his best not to show it to anyone, so as to keep morale high. "We're going to take the bike. We'll be able to plow through most of Them with it at least." I had to admit, I'd almost completely forgotten about the bike, and he had a point, with it, not only could we have been able to break through the mobs, but since it was so fast, it would be difficult for any of Them to actually grab us. The only problem was, it was going to be the three of us heading out there, and Takashi-san was the only one who knew how to drive it. What's more, deep down, I wanted to pull this thing off by myself. I really didn't want any of the others to feel they needed to stay by my side, I didn't want to throw any of their lives in danger.

"Takashi-san, Bjarte...I should tell you now, you don't have to come with me. If anything, I'll head out there myself. I'm basically the smallest of you guys, I've always been rather quick on my feet. If you guys were to just stay here and keep me covered with the guns, I'd be just fine." I explained to them, the faintest of smiles appearing on my face. "Forget it." Takashi-san suddenly argued, forcing me to turn to look up at him, eye to eye.

"We both agreed to stick with you through this the instant we followed you inside. If you think we're just going to stay here while you have to fight your way through the mess that's out there, you've got another thing coming, pal." he went on, a look of sheer determination accompanying that confident grin of his. Bjarte had a look that spoke the exact same words to me. I honestly was at a loss for words. It was next to certain death going out there, and these guys really were willing to stick with me going through the shit?

"You guys..." I started, unable to find anything else I could possibly say. "There's no point in arguing with them, Ditlev-kun." I suddenly heard Busujima-san pipe in from behind me, forcing me to turn back to face her. She just leaned back against the stairs railing, her head slightly bowed down in thought, smiling. "You're the one who came up with this little idea, and they've decided to follow you all the way to the end with it. You three men have made your decision." she finished, looking up at us, and the smile never left her face. I admit, I felt kind of bad about just throwing her words of advice from earlier out the window, but I was surprised that she was this alright with us doing this. I really felt that I needed to apologize for just ignoring her well-meaning words.

"I'm sorry, Busujima-san. It's just that...she's only a little kid, and if none of us do anything..." I started to explain, but I just couldn't think of the right thing to say to really emphasize why I was so driven to do this. If I were to pick the most likely reason, I guess it's just because my mother's love for children sorta spread to me as well. I always got along with them better than most people in my age group, anyway. Before I could've said anything, Takashi-san suddenly interrupted with: "We just wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if we just let that kid die." He took the words right out of my mouth.

Busujima-san just nodded her head in understanding. "I knew that the instant I heard you coming down. Of course. If this is what the three of you truly wish to do, than just do us all a favor and come back safely, and do your best to keep that little girl safe." With that said, she grabbed that wooden sword of hers from the foot of the stairs, and with a single impressive twirl of her weapon, swung it down so as to show it was ready for action. "We'll take care of things here, so don't any of you worry. Now go."

I smiled and nodded in appreciation as we made our way down the last steps of the stairs, beginning to make our way towards the garage. Then I saw Fritjof make his way out of the kitchen, carrying a large duffle bag over his shoulder. "I heard everything, you guys. Normally I'd try my best to talk you out of this psychotic plan of yours, but it's like Hirano-san said earlier back on the bus. Normality doesn't exist anymore. Besides, you've all proven to be better fighters than me, so I know you'll be able to do this." I just looked at him in utmost confusion. Fritjof was right about one thing, normally he would do anything to talk me out of any of the stupid ideas I would usually come up with, yet now he was supporting my rush into the dead zone without even a belittling comment.

I just looked down at the duffle bag he was carrying, and unable to think of anything to respon with, all I could say was: "So...what's with the duffle bag?" He just chuckled and shook his head as he set it down on the floor. "Saeko and I worked to make enough food for all of us to last for a couple days. I figured that if you were heading out, this would pretty much be the sign for us to hit the road again. So I got all the food packed away here, and I'm gonna get whatever weapons we can carry all into the Humvee." he explained, and I just couldn't help but smile at how optimistic he had suddenly become. Normally, he was the one who would be going on about how impossible our chances of surviving out there would be, and yet here he was, more than ready to do whatever it took to survive instead of cowering in the corner. Something else that really got me off guard was how he referred to Busujima-san. "Whoa, Fritjof. When did you suddenly become the informal one?" I couldn't help but ask.

With that, I noticed his face go considerably red as he mentioned how Busujima-san insisted that by now we were all friends and that in that case, she would prefer we all refer to as he just did. She even nodded her head to confirm this statement.

All I could bring myself to do was just nod my head in agreement as we all made our way for the door to the garage. Then just as we were about to make our way out, Takashi-san making sure to kill the lights in the living room as well, Rei suddenly spoke up. "Takashi..." she said as I turned back to see the two of them. Rei immediately held out her hands, and in them was the five-shooter that Takashi-san had gotten back when we were separated. "At least take this with you."

Without a word, but a grateful smile, Takashi took the weapon out of her hands, slipping it into the pocket inside his school uniform jacket as he slipped it back on. Throwing the door open, the five of us made our way out, Rei making her way to the gate getting ready to open it on our word. "All of you, keep in mind not to use the guns too much. If you do, the sounds will just attract more of Them." Saeko mentioned as Takashi rolled the bike out onto the driveway from the garage.

"Well, that's good advice, Saeko, but the bike itself is already going to make a lot of noise." Takashi-san answered as he got himself set on the drivers' seat. Busujima-san just bowed her head as she continued. "That's true, but in order to use the bike, you'll have to make noise either way. But even so, the gunshots you make when you fire will only attract more of Them. Many of Them are already out there, so if more were to show up, I regret to say your chances of getting away would become that much more difficult."

I felt the color fade from my face as I took her words into account. She was right. The more we were to fight with our guns, and the more shots Kouhta-san and Alpi fired off, the more of Them would come. Thankfully we had our melee weapons as well, but in a mob that dense just outside the gates, I really didn't know what good they would be able to do us. Just then, the engine of the motorcycle rumbled to life as Takashi-san got it lined up for a full frontal dash through the gate. Now all we needed was for me and Bjarte to get on the bike and at the ready. Alpi had previously mentioned a while back when we first got back together of how Rei had managed to get the three of them on the bike at once, so I guess we all just silently figured it was going to come down to that again.

Slipping my pistol into my pocket, and slinging my assault rifle over my back, clutching my fireaxe in my hands, I just needed Bjarte to get on the back so I could get between. Me being the smallest in stature among the group, and therefore the lightest, this obviously worked best. I looked over at the gate only to find that Bjarte appeared to be talking to Rei about something I couldn't hear over the rumble of the engine.

_aaa_

I understood perfectly what it was we were all planning to do once we had gotten out onto the driveway. We'd use it to plow through the crowds of Them, save that little girl, and hopefully be able to get back behind our gates before too many of Them would show up. Afterwards, we'd all gather up in the Humvee, and hopefully Marikawa-sensei would be sobered up by then so she could be able to drive us all out of here. I had already run the whole gist of this last minute plan in my head, but at the same time, something was just preventing me from being able to completely focus, and I knew what it was.

It was these bizarre feelings I'd been getting lately whenever I was around Rei. Go ahead and call me stupid for not realizing what these feelings really were, but I'd never felt a kind of this magnitude before. As Saeko, Takashi and Ditlev had basically gone over what we were all going to do, all I could really think of was that before I was to go out there with them, the one thing I wanted to do was just be able to talk to Rei one more, I didn't care what it would possibly be about, how brief it would be. I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I wouldn't be making it out of this alive, and all I wanted before sealing my fate was to just talk to her one more time.

In the few minutes it took for the others to get themselves all ready, all I could bring myself to do was to just walk up to her, and just think of something to say. Sooner than I had hoped, I was there, and I just said the very first thing that came to mind when she noticed me. "Bjarte-san, is something wrong?" she asked before I could get a word out. **For gråte høyt** _(N: For crying out loud)_, I could not tell you how much I hated this new nervous feeling I was getting every time she looked at me, or anytime I was near her. I mean, I hadn't had this problem at all when I had first reunited with the whole lot of my fellow survivors back at the school. If I had to think back as to when I started getting like this, I think it might've been when we had gotten reunited earlier that day after the others and I had abandoned the bus.

"No, nothing's wrong." I finally said after racing through a thousand thoughts a minute of something to say. "I just wanted to say before we head out there, that no matter what happens out there, I'll make sure to get Takashi back safe and sound." Once those words were out, Rei could only look at me with faint confusion, but mostly surprise. Not waiting for a response, I decided to just go on and give her my reasoning. "Out of the rest of us, I think he's the most fit to be our leader if the situation should ever call for it, so..." before I could say another word, Rei placed her hand on my shoulder, causing me to snap out of the little speech I had been running through my head. I once again felt my face get warmer when she was looking me right in the eyes.

"Don't make those kind of promises, Bjarte-san. I want all of you to come back safely. We all do." she said softly, never breaking her gaze away from me. I couldn't bring myself to answer her, all I could do was just look at her as she took a step towards me, taking my hand in hers. "So if you're going to promise anything, promise us that you'll all come back." she went on, and I'm not sure if it was the rumbling motorcycle engine playing tricks on my hearing, but I think her voice might've been trembling as well.

Just when I was about ready to give her the only answer I could, I suddenly heard Alpi yell out to us from the balcony as Kouhta-san had kept firing every several seconds.

"**Hei, meillä ei ole rajattomasti ammuksia täällä, pojat! Luuletko että voisimme kiirettä tämän?**" _(F: Hey, we don't have unlimited ammo up here, guys! Do you think we could hurry this up?) _he shouted as he fired off yet another shot. That's what finally kicked us all into high gear. I immediately snapped my attention back to Rei and placed my one free hand on the one she had on my shoulder and nodded my head once. "I promise."

With that, I was on my way to the bike and practically jumping into the back seat. Saeko joined Rei at the gate, and Ditlev wasted no time climbing up between us, fireaxe in hand. I followed suit, unsheathing the machete as Takashi revved the engine, and then gave a single nod, and just like that, the gates were open, and we were speeding down the driveway. At the very last second, Takashi did what I think was called a "wheelie", because we practically flew for a few seconds out onto the street.

Immediately on impact, we were darting down the street, a virtual wall of Them closing on us from both sides. Wasting no time, I unsheathed my blade, and clutching the handle in both hands, I held the blade out to the right side of the bike, and noticing this, Ditlev followed suit, holding his axe out the opposite side. Much to my surprise, this instantaneous plan actually worked for the shortest time, cutting clean through several of Them, severing limbs and heads the whole way. Every couple of seconds, there would be the noticeable _pop _of one of our two snipers from behind, followed by a quick head explosion of whichever of Them was closest to one of us. Then my blade ended up getting stuck halfway through one's torso, and it ended up wrenching the handle right out of my hand.

"SHIT!" I couldn't help but shout as Ditlev pulled his axe back away from the thinning mob. "Over there!" he yelled out, pointing his arm over Takashi's shoulder, and sure enough, there was the house, and there was the scattered headless bodies of Them to prove it. "Hang on tight, guys!" Takashi yelled back as he immediately hit the brakes, causing the tires to screech as the bike skidded in a turn towards the open gate. Just as the bike stopped skidding, a single one of Them instantly lunged at me, but there was a single pop, and its head immediately splattered in another fine red and grey mist.

With another rev of the engine, we began tospeed forward into the yard with another wheelie, but there was a sudden bump beneath our one grounded tire, and the next thing we knew, our bike flipped and threw all three of us to the ground. My head was ringing for several seconds as I tried to get back on my feet. Looking back at the numbers of Them that were heading for us from the street, me and Takashi sprinted for the gate and slammed them shut. I threw the lock down, so at least now we had a few more seconds on our side.

Hearing a furious yell, I looked back and saw Ditlev slamming his axe into the head of one of Them from behind. The other two began to make their way towards him, but like a shot, Takashi was on the nearest one with a crowbar, and as much as I desperately had hoped that I wouldn't have to do this, I quickly pulled out my pistol from its holster, and making sure to turn the safety off like Alpi had shown me not even an hour ago. After taking only half a second to aim, I fired my first shot, nailing the last one in the neck. The sudden burst of my gun caught Ditlev and Takashi's attention, but luckily it also drew the stragglers' attention away from them. Once it began to move towards me, Takashi slammed his crowbar into the back of its skull, and it was finally down, and we were safe at last...for now, at least.

"Why did you shoot, man? Busujima, er...I mean, Saeko said the sound would only attract more of Them!" Takashi yelled as I tucked my pistol back into its holster. "I lost my damn machete on the way over here. I don't have anything else but my guns." I explained as calmly as I could, but still venting some frustration at my preferred weapon. I looked at the corner of the yard wall towards the gate, and I saw the body of that little girls' father. There was that large wrench I had seen him carrying, lying next to him. I'll tell you now, I felt terrible at that moment of thinking about stealing from the dead, but I knew I needed something handy for close quarters if I wanted to survive, if I wanted to help the others chances of surviving, so I decided to just go through with it, and take it. It did feel good to have something in my hands again at least.

I then noticed Ditlev kneeling near the corner. We both slowly approached him, and I had begun to fear that perhaps we had waited too long, that that little girl we had come here for was dead. Then I could hear the sound of a faint whimpering as I got nearer. "Are you alright? Did any of them hurt you?" I heard Ditlev ask as I could finally see over his shoulder. That little girl was huddled up as far back into the corner as she could go, curled up into a ball with her arms over her head, and her whole body was trembling like crazy, and for very good reason too.

Ditlev just looked over his shoulder at me, looking concerned before he turned his attention back to her. He slowly reached his hand out towards her. "Hey, I asked if you're alright." he said again, this time causing her to slightly raise her head and look up at the three of us. She didn't say anything, but she slowly stood back up onto her feet, staring at all three of us with either fascination or fear. "Are you hurt?" Ditlev asked again, still keeping himself crouched down so as to be at the same eye level with her. He had started smiling again, perhaps to show that we weren't dangerous. That made the most sense, cause once he started smiling, that's when she finally said something.

"N-no..." she muttered, still sounding a bit nervous, but it seemed to be enough for Ditlev, as he finally stood up and rested the handle of the axe over his shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief. "What's your name?" he asked, the smile never leaving his face. I feel he was really happy that the kid was safe. "A-Alice...Alice Maresato." she answered shyly, still looking over me and Takashi with uncertainty.

"Alice-chan, you don't need to be scared anymore. We came here to take you somewhere safe, okay?" Ditlev asked as kindly as he could, even going so far as to kneel back down to her level again, always smiling. Several seconds of uncomfortable silence followed, and she would keep looking at me and Takashi nervously, but then back at Ditlev, and she seemed to be less frightened with him. Can't possibly imagine why. He always did get along better with children than most people in his late-teens age group. Fritjof even sometimes said he had the mind of a child, so perhaps it showed to her, and that's what made her more comfortable with him.

Finally nodding her head, Alice grabbed onto Ditlev's free hand, and I figured that meant it was okay for us to go. I hadn't heard any gunshots from back at the house for the last few minutes, so I felt that meant everybody was now officially ready to go and were just waiting for us. "Um, guys...we have a bit of a situation here." Takashi suddenly said, his voice low and grim. We all turned to look, and Takashi was standing over the bike. It was just our luck, that crash landing we got into totaled the damn thing. I then slowly approached the gate, and I just went white when I saw just how many of Them had all been drawn to our part of the street. This wasn't even a mob, it was a miniature army of Them.

_aaa_

"Alright everybody, I've gotten as many of the weapons into the trunk as I can fit, so may I suggest you all drop whatever it is you're doing and get in?" I announced as I fit the lastbag of ammo boxes into the trunk of the Humvee and slamming the door shut. It had only been a couple of minutes since Bjarte, Takashi and Ditlev had gone off to perform their little rescue mission, and thankfully now everyone was awake. Takagi-san was able to get into the groove of what was going on pretty quickly, and while I was glad Marikawa-sensei also caught on as quickly, I would've at least appreciated that she'd put some clothes on first before running around the house to gather whatever medical supplies and other essentials we might've needed. Now this was a prime example of why I never intended to drink.

In the rush of getting everything together, I practically had to drag Alpi and Hirano-san away from their little snipers perch, afterwards making sure to grab whatever ammo boxes I could find. We couldn't afford to go without a single box at this point. Anyway, once I had gotten everyone's attention that everything was all packed away and ready, I noticed Saeko looking over the top of the wall, and I could just make out a hint of concern in her expression.

Me and Takagi-san both made our way towards her, neither of us bothering to look ourselves at what had her so concerned. "Busujima-san, everything's ready. Come on, we have to get in so we can go!" Takagi-san said impatiently, but Saeko didn't bother to look at us when she told us what was going on. "That's the least of our problems right now. They're surrounding Komuro-kun and the others. They don't have any means of getting out of there." she explained, and like I had foreseen this happening, I was alongside her staring out through the small slots of the wall railing, and just as she had said, there was a gigantic mob of Them swarming the very part of the street Bjarte, Ditlev and Komuro-san had gone off to.

"**Mikä on vialla? Miksi kaikki ovat etsimässä niin huolissaan?**" _(F: What's going on? Why's everybody looking so worried?) _I heard Alpi ask as I saw him walk towards us, a very faint sign of a limp in his movements; a much bigger improvement compared to how he had been earlier. "**Bjarte, Ditlev och Takashi är i trubbel. Det finns en enorm pöbel av Dem svärmande sin del av gatan och de kan inte komma ut.**" _(S: Bjarte, Ditlev and Takashi are in trouble. There's a huge mob of Them swarming their part of the street and they can't get out.) _I quickly explained to him as I turned back to look at the house my friends had gone off too, desperately trying to think of how we could get them out.

"This is really bad. There's way too many of Them for them to get out with the bike." Takagi-san muttered, for once actually sounding genuinely concerned rather than impatient or agitated. Scratching at the back of my head in frustration, I began to start pacing before I suddenly heard Marikawa-sensei speak up: "Well, why don't we just pick them up with the Humvee?"

Those words just made us all stop what we were doing, even Alpi; though I think that's just because she mentioned the Humvee. She looked at all of us confusedly, and then immediately started spazzing out in embarrassment, going on about how she only brought it up because she had the keys. Either way, it sounded like a solid plan to me. "Alright, then that's the plan. We'll use the Humvee to pick up Komuro, Bjarte and Ditlev. Then we'll commence our plan to get to the other side of the river." Takagi-san stated as we all immediately made way for the Humvee en masse.

_aaa_

We were in really deep shit now. I had been feeling a nagging feeling in my gut that this wasn't exactly the smartest idea I could've come up with, but I hadn't even thought that it could turn out like this. Now we had absolutely no chance of getting out onto the street without those bastards tearing us all to pieces, and I couldn't honestly think of any way we could get out of this yard. "Anyone got any bright ideas?" was all I could ask Bjarte and Takashi as we had all been looking for some way to at least signal the others that we were in trouble, but to no avail.

Then I felt Alice-chan tugging at my arm. "Onii-chan..." she spoke quietly, but nevertheless getting my attention. It had only been a couple minutes since I'd gotten her to first speak, and already she was referring to me like her brother. I already knew this name was officially going to stick, but I had other thoughts in mind, but I felt that I needed to hear her out. "Yes, Alice-chan? What is it?" I asked her, trying to sound as calm and optimistic as I could. I didn't want to scare the poor kid anymore than she no doubt already was. Yet, when I looked at her, she wasn't anywhere near as scared as she was sad. Tears were already rolling freely down her face when she pointed back towards the body slumped against the wall next to the gate. "My daddy...he died..." she went on, and I knew she didn't have to say anymore. How could I have forgotten such a devastating fact so quickly? I looked at Bjarte and Takashi, and they both looked back at me, then at Alice, who was now openly weeping behind me as I could hear, and then they both looked at the body of her father, and I knew we were all thinking the same thing.

As luck would've had it, there were some laundry lines in the yard with some sheets hanging. We all grabbed onto the largest one, and without a single word shared amongst any of us, we gently laid the sheet over his body, and I had to brush a stray tear from my own face as well. Out of all the things I had witnessed since this madness started, this was by far the most tragic event I'd ever had any participation in. No child as young as Alice-chan should have ever had to go through something like this, watching their only family die right in front of them. Yet, here we all were, doing the only thing we could to give her father a decent burial. It wasn't anywhere near as much as we should have done, but it was our only choice.

Once we had draped the sheet over his body, Bjarte grabbed what looked like a flower from a small garden that had no doubt been grown by the family that was hiding in this house. The very same family that killed the man we were 'burying' at that very moment. "Onii-chan?" I heard Alice-chan ask curiously, but surprisingly, she had been talking to Bjarte rather than me. Well, at least it didn't take long for her to get used to him. "**Denne mannen ga sitt liv for å beskytte deg. Det sier seg selv, var han virkelig en flott far.**' _(N: This man gave his life to protect you. It goes without saying, he was truly a great father.) _he said to her as he held the flower out to her. To both me and Takashi's utter astonishment, she didn't just cock her head to the side, asking what the heck he just said. Instead, she just took the flower from his hand, got on her knees and placed the flower on the sheet where his head was.

Just like that, she started weeping loudly, clutching onto Bjarte's sleeve, sobbing uncontrollably as he just placed his hand on her head in an attempt to comfort her. I just looked at Takashi, and I swear to you now, he looked like he was about to start shedding tears of his own. I knew I had started to as all I could hear was Alice-chan's sorrowful sobs. This little girl who couldn't possibly have been any older than 7 had just lost what was most likely her only family. She had experienced what all the rest of us feared the most for our own families, and this experience only made the possibilities of them already being dead seem that much more possible for us.

After a minute or two, Takashi finally breathed in deep and placed his own hand on Alice-chan's shoulder, causing her to stop crying for a minute as he placed a finger over his lips. 'Please, not so loud, Alice. Otherwise more of Them might show up, and They might be able to get in.' he whispered as Alice-chan slowly wiped the many tears from her face. 'Can't we get out of here?' she asked, her voice still noticeably trembling as we all got back onto our feet, carefully looking everywhere for a way out. I had a feeling that whatever we'd come up with, we'd still end up feeling stupid for not thinking about it before.

"Erm, Onii-chan?" I heard her say as she grabbed onto the hem of my shirt again. By then I was so anxious for a way out, I had dropped the calm tone altogether. "Alice-chan, not now. Onii-chan's trying to find a way out." I said through gritted teeth, until she started tugging harder, forcing me to whip my head towards her, no doubt an angry look in my eyes, seeing as she seemed to shrink back in fear.

"W-well…couldn't we just go over them?" she asked as she pointed towards the perimeter wall. We all three just looked at it, and I was right. We did feel stupid for not having seen that before. "Alright, we've got ourselves an escape route. The walls aren't that thick, so we'll have to be careful walking them." Takashi-san said as he jumped up to grab the edge, pulling himself up onto the edge. Bjarte quickly followed, and before I came up, I grabbed Alice-chan below her arms and lifted her up towards Takashi-san.

"Takashi-san, do you think you could be able to carry Alice-chan on your back?" I asked. I would've gladly done it myself if I were strong enough to carry her the whole way; but alas, that wasn't the case. I was beginning to fear he would ask why Bjarte or I couldn't do it, but when I felt Alice-chan get lifted from my grasp, I just sighed in relief, immediately climbing up after Bjarte.

"Takashi, do you think we should think up a way to signal the others when we get close enough to the house?" Bjarte asked as we began to make our way, walking carefully along the thin edge of the walls. "If Alpi and Hirano are still up on the balcony, they should be able to see us just fine. I think they can tell everybody when they see us." He answered, not looking back at us as we all needed to keep our balance. I tried my hardest not to look down towards the street as the hordes of Them moved about just under our feet, all trying desperately to reach the top of the wall for our feet. I really, really hoped the others would see us soon.

_aaa_

"Okay everyone, do you have all the stuff you needed to grab in the Humvee? **Alpi, har du och Hirano-san få allt du behöver för ditt vapen? Absolut allt?**" _(S: Alpi, did you and Hirano-san get all things you'll need for your guns? Absolutely everything?)_ I went around asking as everybody was bustling about to get the very last of the supplies into the trunk. Alpi and Hirano-san had to end up going back upstairs to get some ammo boxes the rest of us had missed earlier, and now everyone was filing into the Humvee, Marikawa-sensei jumping into the drivers seat.

Alpi came fast-walking out of the house with a single duffle bag slung over his shoulder, tossing it into the trunk before he nearly collapsed against the side of the humvee, trying to catch his breath. "**Okej, Alpi. Är det den sista av de kulor?**"_(S: Alright, Alpi. Is that the last of the bullets?)_ I asked once everyone else had finally stopped hustling and bustling about. He just looked up at me and nodded.

Taking a deep breath in preparation, I turned to everyone when I suddenly noticed Hirano-san wasn't among us. Alpi must have noticed as well, because before I could say

anything, I felt him grab my shoulder, and when I looked at him, he pointed up towards the balcony. Sure enough, there he was, watching the street through the binoculars. "Hirano-san, we've got all the ammo and the supplies loaded up! We gotta stop wasting time and get moving, so come on!" I yelled up to him, looking back to make sure everyone was getting in. Saeko seemed to be the only one staying put.

"Fritjof-san, I just realized something." I heard Hirano-san yell down to me. "The Humvee doesn't have a sunroof." Sighing, I looked back up at him, all the while feeling at my beltline to make sure I had my sidearm and holster on me. I had made sure to get it on the moment all the weapons had been fully loaded earlier, and good thing too; if I hadn't, I don't think I would've even known where to look in the rush we were now in.

"So, what's your point?" I asked, growing more and more impatient with each passing second. "Well, we can easily plow through that crowd up the street with the Humvee. However, once we actually rescue Komuro and the others, how are we going to get them inside? There's too many of Them packed together to make any kind of breathing room for them to get in through the doors."

**Helvete.** _(S: Goddammit)_ That was all I could think the instant he brought that up. I knew he was right, and I knew as well as he did that there was no way for them to get in once we even got there. What would we do then? We would only be able to drive out of the crowd while the three, possibly four of them would have to cling onto the roof and just hope they don't fall off. That plan was flat out suicidal, so I was once again back to having no possible idea of what to do next, and I highly doubted anyone else would be able to think of something.

Acting on a whim, I made my way for Alpi as he got himself situated in the far back seat. "**Alpi, vi har ett problem. Det finns inget sätt för Bjarte, Ditlev och Komuro-san att komma in i Humvee när vi kommer till dem. Om det är möjligt, tror du att du skulle kunna göra dem lite andrum med din pistol så att de kan få in genom en av dörrarna?**" _(S: Alpi, we've got a problem. There's no way for Bjarte, Ditlev and Komuro-san to get into the Humvee once we get to them. If it's possible, do you think you could be able to make them some breathing room with your sidearm so they can get in through one of doors?)_ I hurriedly asked. Without even a moments hesitation, Alpi whipped out his pistol from its holster, clicking the safety off, and giving me a brief smirk. "**Ei ongelma.**" _(F: No problem.) _

"Hirano, hurry up and get down here!" Takagi-san yelled up to the balcony before I heard him shout out excitedly: "Hold on, Takagi-san! Look across the street! I can see some people walking along the walls! I think it's them!"

In an instant, I was already pulling myself up over the edge of the wall to get a better view while everyone else ran up to the gate to see for themselves. I could already tell from where I was that it was them. Bjarte standing nearly a head taller than Komuro-san, and Ditlev nearly a head shorter. I could even make out the shape of a small child on Komuro-san's back. 'He's right, it is them, and they have the kid with them as well! Come on, we have to get them!'

_aaa_

'You holding up okay, Takashi?' I asked as we continued carefully inching our way along the wall, listening to the collective groans and moans of Them beneath our feet as multiple hands futilely reached for us and grabbed nothing but air. 'I'm doing alright so far.' he said as he carefully stepped from the end of this wall to the start of the next. It was a slow pace we were going, but at least we were getting somewhere. 'How about you, Alice-chan? You doing okay up there?' I asked asked again as I saw her clutching onto Takashi's jacket even tighter as she looked down at the street.

'Just don't look down at the street, Alice-chan. Just keep your eyes closed and just keep holding onto Takashi-niichan, and you'll be just fine.' Ditlev yelled forward as he hopped forward onto the new wall, keeping himself balanced the whole way. I couldn't help but laugh for a second at his little nickname for Alice to give Takashi, and I'm sure if he were able to look back at us, he'd be glaring daggers at us right then.

'Hey Takashi, if you get tired, I can carry her the rest of the way.' I yelled up as I could see Takashi was beginning to walk just a little slower, though it was probably cause he was trying his best not to look down himself. Of course, how could any of us even try to pretend like we weren't as terrified as Alice-chan was at that time? It would only take on wrong step, and they would tear us all apart just like that. Just thinking about it needed me to try and tell myself to just keep looking at the wall I was walking on as well. I needed to worry about keeping all four of us safe, not just myself, and not just one person. I was going to keep my promise to Rei and bring us all back to the others safe if it was to be the last thing I'd do.

As I thought this all over, Takashi suddenly stopped and I thought I heard something like whining coming from him. Then Alice-chan looked over his shoulder and yelled: 'No, bad dog! Bad!'

Me and Ditlev both stopped at the mention of that. 'Dog? When did you find a dog, Takashi?' I asked as he glanced back to me, and I could clearly see just how nervous he was, just as much as I no doubt looked to him. Yet, he still tried to maintain that calm, confident tone of his, that really did make him seem like that much better of a leader than anyone else.

'I found it in the yard we just came from. He was with Alice-chan the whole time.' Thinking back to how this entire predicament had started, I suddenly remembered just what had originally brought all of Them to our part of the neighborhood in the first place. 'That dog isn't a white puppy, is it?' With that, Takashi only nodded as he began to continue his way forward, and we were quick to follow as expected. 'Takashi, you know that dogs barking is what drew all of Them to this street in the first place right?' Ditlev asked as we hopped towards another wall.

'Yeah, and I know where you're going with this, but Alice-chan really seems to like him, and I wasn't going to just leave him there.' he said back as we both just remained quiet. He was right, it was only the right thing to do. Whether it were human or animal, nothing deserved a fate like getting eaten by Them, so I just looked back at Ditlev, and we both silently agreed it was the end of discussion.

'Hey Alice-chan, are you scared?' I heard Takashi ask as she looked down again at the horde. 'Yes. Are you scared, onii-chan?' she asked back, holding onto him tighter. 'No...of course not.' i heard him answer, but I could hear the strain in his tone, and I knew he was lying through his teeth, but it was for a relatively good reason. When you're dealing with children in a relatively frightening situation, it's best not to show them you're afraid, otherwise it might cause panic. Another example of basic survival psychology.

Going along, I couldn't help but marvel at just how long it was taking us to get back to the house. Yeah, it only seemed so short before because of the bike, but it literally felt like we weren't getting any closer. If they couldn't see us from the balcony, I at least hoped they were getting that Humvee ready. Deep down, I knew it was officially time for us all to go.

_aaa_

With the final slam of the trunk door, at long last everything was set and we were about ready to hit the road. At one point, we had lost track of Hirano-san, but he came out completely adorned in bullet belts, and a headband with two flashlights taped under it, facing skyward, and he was wielding Komuro-san's shotgun and his own rifle. I could only just sigh in exasperation and tell him to just get inside the Humvee with the others. I had managed to be surprisingly patient with all this last minute evacuation prep, but when someone comes out looking like the freakish offspring of Rambo and Reb Brown, that's where I myself draw the line nowadays.

Once everyone else had gotten inside, it was just me and Saeko left as we both looked out through the gate, and I could still see the distant forms of our friends, slowly making their way towards us, but whether they would make it was anyone's guess. 'So is everyone absolutely sure everything's in the Humvee?' I asked.

'Yes. Hirano-kun said himself he looked in every single corner of the house for spare bullets. We've got everything we need for while we're out there.' she answered as we both began to make our way back to the Humvee. 'I must say, Fritjof-kun, you've displayed an impressive bit of authority over the last several minutes. You didn't let a single thing miss your eye that you thought we might've needed for later.' she went on, and I felt my face start going pink again.

'Well, I have my relatives to thank for that. I was raised by my fathers' belief that efficiency should be one of the things you treasure most, and then my uncle is a police officer, and he would sometimes tell me what the best methods were to maintaining and controlling a large group of people. Constant reminders being one of the best ones for children.' I had started to explain as I looked through the back windows to the trunk, simply marvelling at just how many bags of ammunition we now had, along with the spare guns that hadn't been taken by everyone else yet.

"It sounds like you they both taught you very well." she chimed in with another smile as I once again loosened the collar of my shirt in embarrassment. Yes, it goes without saying that I never was one that took compliments lightly. "Well, this is the very first time I've ever done something remotely similar to this. Besides, compared to what Komuro, Bjarte and Ditlev have on their hands right now, I would dare to say this is too easy." I said with a semi-confident smile as I looked back to the gate.

Opening the passenger door, I poked my head inside to make absolutely sure for the last time everybody was here. "Alright Saeko, now we just get in, and then we're off." I said as I gestured my arm inwards for her to get in. When there wasn't an answer, my very first instinct for once was to look up, and there I saw Saeko standing on top of the Humvee, wooden sword drawn. "You go ahead and get inside, Fritjof-kun. I'm going to help keep Them from swarming us when we have to stop to get the others."

As much as I wanted to tell her to get down from there, how easy it could be for her to get hurt or worse, I couldn't find the right argument to give, so all I could do was just do as she asked and just climb inside with the others. The whole time I was trying to convince myself that she was perfectly fine up there and that she didn't need any help, but at the same time, I kept feeling more and more like I needed to do something of my own to make things just a little easier if possible. Sitting back, that's when I noticed what looked like a door handle on the roof right above me.

"Hirano-san, do you think you could be able to help Alpi fight Them off from the side windows if They do indeed try to swarm us?" I asked in just a whisper as I began to pull my submachine gun out from over my shoulder. "Well, I haven't had as much practice with pistols as I have with assault rifles and sniper rifles, but I could still be able to take quite a few of Them down." The instant I heard that, I was prying the hatch door open, and ignoring the immediate view up Saeko's legs I got upon opening, I rested my arms against the roof, gun at the ready. "Marikawa-sensei, drive!"

_aaa_

I had been following Bjarte, Takashi-san and Alice-chan for a good ten minutes by this point, and I had begun to fear that my knees were starting to give out from having to practically tightrope walk the whole way. Luckily I'd been able to just keep my eyes forward and not get my attention drawn to the horde below. However, I was beginning to get a good feeling that Their numbers were finally starting to thin out just a little bit. Just so long as that dog wouldn't start barking again.

Suddenly Bjarte stopped right in front of me and I nearly ran right into him, but I just barely managed to stop in time. "Guys, what's going on? Why are we stopped?" I asked, anxious to get an answer. We'd gotten this far without any problem, and I didn't recall seeing a huge hole in any wall on the way over to the last house earlier. "Takashi, why'd you stop?" Bjarte asked curiously, and the only answer we got was Takashi looking back at us over his shoulder, the nervous face he had before replaced with what I could only describe as sheer embarrassment. "You don't want to know." was all he said, and we both figured if this was one thing we didn't want to know, out of all the shit we had seen so far, it was worth not digging into.

Suddenly, I heard a distant rumbling. Amidst all the moans I couldn't really make out what it was, but all I knew was that whatever it was, it was big, and it was headed right for us. Then two blinding lights flashed up front, and i don't think any of us could believe what we were seeing. At least I knew I couldn't. The Humvee was speeding down the street towards us, and Saeko was standing on top of it with her wooden sword drawn, and there was Fritjof right beneath her with his SMG drawn. Right before the Humvee met the horde, I swear I even heard him shout out: "**Framåt! Kostnad!**" and even Takagi-san shouting the same thing in Japanese: "FORWARD! CHARGE!"

Everything afterwards happened so fast, I'm not sure I could be able to explain it in a way to do it justice. At the very last second, Saeko got down on her knees, grabbing Fritjof's head, just as the Humvee plowed into the horde, the sounds of bodies getting crushed, bones snapping and bodies colliding with each other filled the air to the point it was nearly deafening. At first they sped past us, but then there came the screeching tires, and the whole thing skidded until it had turned back to face us again. There are seriously no words I could come up with to tell you how amazing this was, all three of us were nearly speechless until Alice-chan could only ask: "Onii-chan, are those friends of yours?"

Almost as if on a queue, all three of us could only just say it: "Yes. Very good friends."

The Humvee began to speed toward us again, but it passed us once more, this time coming to a stop right at an alley entrance. "Let's go, guys!" Takashi said the instant they stopped, and by this point we were practically running along the walls now that the Humvee had taken out so many of Them. As we ran, I suddenly heard the bursting of machine gun fire, and when I saw the brief hint of a muzzle flash on the roof, I immediately knew who it was. Fritjof was actually fighting now. I even heard a few blasts of pistol fire from one of the passenger windows, but I couldn't see who it was.

As we got closer, I looked to the alley they had blocked off, and there were a few of Them heading for the Humvee. I could then hear Rei shouting at us, but the unsuppressed gunfire made it next to impossible for me to hear a word. "Rei, look out!" I suddenly heard Takashi and Bjarte yell simultaneously as Bjarte actually leaped to the side down onto the streets below. The instant he landed on his feet, he was already sprinting for the back of the vehicle, and I shit you not, he actually leaped up and actually jumped off the roof, pulling out the wrench in mid jump, and brought it down on a single **vandrere's **_(D: walker) _head, one that had managed to get around the front of the Humvee and had nearly gotten to Rei as she had her head poking out the window.

The very next second, there was a deafening blast among all the other gunshots that came from the passenger window facing the alley. Several of Them had almost instantly been reduced to mush in that instant, and at the same time, Saeko actually leaped from the roof of the Humvee as Fritjof turned to face the alley, plugging three in the head in a heartbeat. Now I'm willing to bet he was just as freaked out at how good a shot he turned out to be as the rest of us were.

Everything that followed is just too much to be able to explain any form of detail. Saeko had managed to make very quick work of the majority of Them in the alley, while Bjarte practically went berserk on the ones that had managed to squeeze through whatever openings there were into the alley. Kouhta-san and Alpi had managed to take out a few others that got too close from the side of the street, and Fritjof was able to pick off any that tried to climb up to him. Me and Takashi were the only ones that weren't able to do any kind of fighting, seeing as everyone else had managed to take out the majority of Them by the time we had jumped onto the Humvee roof.

Once we had finally gotten ourselves some breathing room, Me, Takashi-san and Alice-chan climbed in through the roof hatch, and Bjarte and Saeko followed suit after us, and wasting not even a second, we were soon speeding down the street again. What our next stop was going to be...I had no idea, nor did I care at this point.

_aaa_

Any words I could come up with to tell you how relieved I was to finally be back with all the others and away from any threat of Them would be an understatement. I still can't believe I actually jumped off the wall and fought off several of Them with nothing but a wrench! Was it because I was so desperate for us to escape that I had gone into some kind of Vietnam-type of PTSD and practically went berserk? Was it because Rei had just been in danger of getting eaten right then and there? I don't know any more than the others do, or any more than you do.

Anyway, I was just glad to finally be out of the streets. We were all okay, nobody had gotten hurt, Alice-chan was safe, and best of all, when I decided to look in the trunk, we had even more food, water, weapons and ammo than I thought the house could've possibly had. When I had brought up how everyone had gotten all this stuff together, they all just told me it was Fritjof I needed to thank for that.

Once I finally got myself into an empty seat, I nearly lost all consciousness right then and there. All I could do was just listen to everyone as they discussed either what the next plan of action would be or which of the weapons that were left they'd go with. Afterwards, it was just listening to Ditlev introduce Alice-chan to everyone once we had all settled down, and after that I had finally slipped into unconsciousness.

I don't know how much time had passed once I woke up again, all I know is that it couldn't have been too long as it was still dark out. It felt like someone had been shaking me, but for a couple seconds I didn't see anybody move. Then again, I didn't hear the Humvee engine running either. That's when I felt a hand grab onto my shoulder, and if the voice it belonged to hadn't spoken up right then and there, I would've beaten that person to death with my wrench thinking it was one of Them. Thankfully that wasn't the case.

"Bjarte-san, are you awake?" I heard Rei whisper into my ear, and before I could say anything, I felt her finger against my lips. "We need to keep our voices down. Everyone's asleep." she whispered, and when I nodded my head that I understood, then she let go. Everything else was so dark inside, I couldn't make anything out. All I could see was Rei, looking me right in the eyes, her face illuminated by a single street light coming from behind the Humvee.

Once again I was left speechless at how close she was to me, so trying desperately to think of something to say, I asked the only thing I could think of. "I don't hear the engine. Where are we?" I asked, remembering to whisper as she had asked me to. "We haven't seen a single one of Them out on the street for the last few kilometers, so we decided to rest the night out in this empty garage we found. At first light, we're going to continue on our way across the river. Takagi-san even said there's a part of the river where the ground is closer to the surface, so she thinks we might be able to just drive across." she went on to say as I took in every single word, momentarily nodding my head to indicate I understood what this could all mean.

For the first time in the last several hours, I actually felt optimistic. I ran all the steps through my head. We get across the river, search for each others families one by one, and then afterwards find out where the military could be holding an evacuation, and then we'd finally be out of this hellhole of a city. "It's only gonna be a matter of time before we're finally able to get out of this place." I muttered mostly to myself. Actually, I was in such a good mood at that very moment that I didn't even notice Rei place her hands on the sides of my face until I saw her start bringing her face closer towards me.

Before I could say a word, she closed her eyes and I suddenly felt the warm sensation of her lips against mine. I swear, my heart must've stopped beating for several seconds. I was absolutely motionless and at a complete loss for a single word or thought. I could not bring myself to believe what had just happened. We stayed like this for what felt like minutes on end, Rei's hands on my face and her lips kissing mine. By the time she had finally broken what was my very first kiss, all I could do was slowly turn my head and look at her like she had just turned into something unable to be described by words.

By the time I was finally about to say something, she put her finger to my lips again and this time she slowly brought her arms around my neck, resting her head on my shoulder. "I wanted to thank you." she whispered softly. "Thank me for what?" was all I could think of asking, and by the time she answered, I could feel warm tears come down her face onto my shoulder. "For...for coming back to us...for bringing Takashi back. For keeping him, Alice-chan and Ditlev-san safe." she went on, and I could clearly tell she was crying as she was saying this. Sighing, all I could do was just smile as I brought my arms around her waist, holding her close. "Well, I promised you I would, didn't I?"

She slowly raised her head from my shoulders and looked at me, and I just smiled again as I wiped a single tear from her cheek. "I think you've cried enough for tonight." I whispered into her ear. She showed absolutely no visible reaction as I began to lay myself back down into my seat, but just as I was about to close my eyes again, I suddenly felt her rest her head on my shoulder again, draping her arm over my chest and around my other shoulder.

Looking down at her, I had begun to think perhaps she was still just a tiny bit drunk from earlier, but I figured that wasn't possible at this point, but I still wanted to know what she was thinking. There clearly must've been something more than just bringing everyone back safely that was convincing her to act like this with me. Before I could say anything, she began to whisper again, so I just layed my head back as I listened to her every word.

"So much has already happened in such a short time. We've already gone past the point of no return, and there's nothing we can do to change it. Our families are out there somewhere, you and your friends' families could be absolutely anywhere back in your countries right now, and none of us have any way of contacting any of them. So many people have died already, and it hasn't even been two days. Hisashi's dead..." she had went on, and by the time she mentioned his name I was about ready to say anything to get her to stop. I really didn't want her to keep reminding herself of her biggest loss in this mess. When I was about to stop her, however, she took her head from my chest and got herself situated so that she was now sitting on my lap, with both her hands on my shoulders as she looked me directly in the eye as she went on, tears once again streaming down her face, bringing her face closer to mine again with each second as she continued opening up to me.

"When Hisashi died, I felt like I wanted to die with him, I didn't want to keep going. Yet, in all this time, you, Takashi and everyone else have helped me feel the need to survive again. Everyone has come to mean so much to me in such a short time, and if anything were to happen to any one of us...I-I don't know if I could be able to keep going. But...Bjarte-san..."

By this point, her face wasn't more than an inch away from mine, and whatever she would say or do at this point, not only would I have been powerless to prevent it, but I wouldn't have wanted to either. "...you and Takashi are without a doubt the most important people I have now, and if anything were to happen to either of you...I wouldn't be able to take it." By this point, her head was bowed down, and all I could hear was the faint sound of her sobbing as her shoulders shook.

Placing my hand under her chin so I could look her in the eyes again, I said only what I thought was right. "Rei, so long as we're all out here in this place, we're always going to watch each others backs. I cannot promise you that Takashi and I are going to be able to protect everyone. The only way we'll all be able to survive this is by protecting each other, fighting side by side when the time comes for it. So long as each and every one of us fights to protect ourselves and each other, then we will get through this, get everyone back to their families, and survive this nightmare."

As much as I wish I could've told her that I would do everything I could to protect everyone, I knew that I'd be lying. She didn't deserve to be lied to, especially not after we had all managed to get as far as we had. She didn't say anything afterwards, only stared at me with what I could only say was wonder. Neither of us could say anything else to each other, and much like last time, I didn't even notice she had brought herself that single inch closer until I had felt her soft kiss once more.

It didn't last as long this time, but I didn't mind. I knew by the smile she had afterwards that I had apparently said exactly what she needed to hear, even if she may not have known it then. She carefully laid herself down on the empty spot on the seat beside me, and I just looked down at her as she pulled a spare blanket over her body. Just as I was about to finally get back to my precious sleep, I barely made out one last whisper she made to me.

"Bjarte...what was that thing you said to me earlier tonight, back at the house?" she said softly as I thought back to when I had put her to bed when she was still in a drunken stupor only hours before. "Oh, that. Well, it was something my mother used to say to me and my little sister whenever we couldn't sleep, back when we were much younger."

I glanced down to see her soft brown eyes looking back up at me with a hint of wonder, that kind smile never leaving her face. "How did it go again?" she asked me, and I thought for a second I saw her cheeks turn a shade of pink immediately once those words left her mouth. I just smiled back at her as I layed myself back down, closing my eyes as I thought back to those sweet childhood memories. "**Nyt denne fred, efter dette etter. Dette er en ting som ingen vil være i stand til å ta fra deg. **It means 'enjoy this peace, cherish this serenity. This is one thing that nobody will be able to take from you.'"

Several silent, yet peaceful seconds passed before I heard her final answer for the night, before I finally fell back into a deep sleep. "It sounds beautiful. Thank you, Bjarte-kun."

**Well, there's chapter 7. I'm going to admit to all you people out there, since there wasn't as much in this chapter in the manga as I previously thought, and therefore not much of an opportunity for me to take an original turn somewhere; as well as what I consider to be a bit of hokey dialogue and lazy writing at the latter part of this chapter, i'm not one-hundred percent thrilled with how this chapter turns out, but hey, it's you, the readers whose opinion matters. Besides, I know what's still to come, and I do have much better ideas in store for then. Well, at least I was able to find a good scenario for me to get out of the corner for the possibility of a Rei/Bjarte pairing that I felt I'd gotten myself into by the end of chapter 6. Anyway, you all know the procedure. Read, leave me a review, feel free to say whatever you want, I'm perfectly fine with constructive criticism if you feel the need to share it. And also, as I've mentioned before, be sure to tell any Scandinavian members you or a friend may know, about this story. I'd love to get some feedback from them as well. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I have writing it.**

**Song/Scene list (as previously mentioned in chapter 5) once again, this is all a matter of my personal opinion, these are just pieces I recommend people TRY listening to while at a certain scene to see if it has any kind of effect.**

**-For the scene when the guys are watching all the people getting eaten and/or torn apart by Them from the balcony, a song I felt really put in that feeling of dread, and emphasizing the fact that this may very well be the end of the world, a song I felt hammered that feeling home was another piece by Norwegian black metal legends, Mayhem, entitled 'Pure Fucking Armageddon.' Best version to listen to, the original version from the Deathcrush EP. The scene may not be long enough for the span of the song, but I felt it worked.**

**-For the whole ending scene between Bjarte and Rei, personally I felt a pleasant piano number from Coldplay really set the atmosphere, for me anyway. Either Clocks or Christmas Lights really worked in my honest opinion. **

**Anyway, enjoy, and you can expect chapter 8 sometimes next week.**


	8. Luku Kahdeksan:Aurinko Paistaa Lopetettu

**Hey guys. After continuously reading chapter 8 of the HOTD manga, I had attempted to try and get this chapter uploaded within the same week as chapter 7, but alas, I wasn't able to, but it doesn't really matter. Thankfully, this chapter in the manga is much shorter than the previous one, so I won't be wracking my brain over what to do next so much this time. Those of you all around the world that have been reading up to this point, I believe you all know the drill by now: read, review, recommend to any Scandinavian site members you or a friend may know, and most importantly, enjoy. **

**Also, over the course of this month, I've noticed this story has been getting quite a few hits from Sweden, which tells me that some of you actually are recommending this story to Scandinavian members like I asked, and for this I give you my utmost gratitude. **

**To my Swedish readers: ****Jag ger dig mitt yttersta tacksamhet, och skulle vara tacksam om någon av er skulle vara vänlig nog att lämna en recension, spelar ingen roll vilket språk.**

**UPDATE (3/11/11) This morning I found out about a massive earthquake that registered at 8.9 on the Richter scale that struck Tokyo. The resulting tsunami wiped out several dozen homes and tons of farmland. At this point, the body count has been confirmed to be around ten thousand, with thousands more either injured or missing. As each day passes, the situation in Japan seems to only be getting worse and worse, whether it be power failures, homes being disconnected from water, a dam breaking and wiping out several hundred houses or damaged nuclear plants that are resulting in thousands of people being sent to the hospital for possible radiation poisoning. I may not be a man of God, but for those of you out there that are, I want you to send a prayer out to all those people that have either lost their homes, or have lost a friend, a family member or a loved one. They need all the support we can give.**

_Luku Kahdeksan:__Aurinko Paistaa Lopetettu __(F: Chapter Eight: The Sun Will Shine No Longer)_

A bright and clear morning. No rushes to escape an ambush by Them, no psychopaths looking to take all the supplies we needed for our survival, no screams...actually, not a single sound of any kind of chaos whatsoever. Best of all, we had managed to reach the shallow spot in the river so early in the day, and just as Takagi-san had thought, we were actually able to just use the Humvee to drive across the waters. **Vacker**. _(S: Beautiful.)_

For once I actually felt at ease, not having to worry about anything. All there was to take in was the calm morning breeze as I lay on the roof of the Humvee as it slowly made its way across the river bed, bathing in the sunlight, listening to Ditlev, Hirano-san and Alice-chan wax well-meaning idiotic with each other while Takagi-san kept watch from the porthole for any signs of life down the roads on the other side of the river.

During all this time, there had been an annoying thought that was scratching at the back of my head, something I just couldn't get over. In the short time that had passed since this whole thing started, I felt like I was getting more and more used to the way things were now, adapting to this new lifestyle of constantly fighting for survival in a world that officially had no rules anymore. This feeling scared me, mainly because I had no idea what it could mean. Did it mean that I was now as dangerous as the surviving nutcases that were roaming these dead streets even now? Someone who embraced the anarchy, the lawlessness, who enjoyed this chaos without actually showing it? This feeling had been haunting me since we had fled the house only hours ago, and I had hoped taking in the peace while on the river would help calm my nerves. Well, I was partially right. At least the morning breeze was calming. Ditlev's rambling on the other hand...

"...and so, the ending lyric to the song, and basically the ending of the whole album, is 'I think I'll try THIS house next.' See, it's meant to make the listener think that the ghost of the little girl is now going to come to the house of whoever's listening to the album, and..." Ditlev had gone on rambling to whoever would've been listening about some ridiculous album I remember he bought a couple years ago back home, and all it did was remind me that the one thing he loved nearly as much as anime, was metal and talking people to death about it.

"Ditlev, that's a terrible story to tell someone like Alice-chan. I thought you'd have the common sense to know that something like that could give her nightmares for weeks." I accosted him without even opening my eyes or moving from my spot on the roof. Well, I was relieved to see that I still had some of my old stingy attitude left. It restored some sense of normality for me.

I heard Ditlev scoff in response, and then I couldn't help but get up and look at him with a scowl as he looked at me with that same snarky grin that always got on my nerves more than anything else he did. "Okay Fritjof, **h****ar du nogensinde ordentlig perfektionist. **_(D: You ever proper perfectionist)_ If you've got a better idea on how to pass the time, I'm sure we'd love to hear it." he responded sarcastically, and I just glared at him again as I just laid back down. I hated when he would put me on the spot like that. "I don't know, I don't care. Why not try singing a song or something? That always seems like a good idea. Just make sure it's something appropriate, alright?"

For a minute, I closed my eyes as I listened to the calm sound of the rushing waters below us. I could also barely make out the three of them whispering amongst each other, but I didn't bother trying to hear what it was. I was perfectly content where I was right now, and I honestly wouldn't have minded if it lasted the whole day. Then of course, once I was finally in a spot in which I was comfortable...

"Kouke, kouke, kouke yo. Bouto kouke yo. Ran, ran, ran, ran, kawa kudari!" the three of them immediately started singing in Japanese to the tune of that insipid Mother Goose song 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat.' I always hated that song, even when I was little. "When I said 'sing a song', I didn't mean nursery rhymes. I meant something that all of us could enjoy!" I said loudly, not bothering to get up. At first, nobody said anything. Then I heard Ditlev snickering again. "Fritjof-niichan's a big old stick in the mud, isn't he?" I heard him say to Alice-chan, and I could just imagine the condescending grin he had aimed at the back of my head. It's true, some things never do change.

I tried to just ignore the lot of them as they continued to sing, and after the third or fourth time they did the whole thing, there was silence, and I was hopeful they'd finally tired of it. "I know the song in English too." Alice-chan said excitedly, to be met with gasps of fascination from Both Ditlev and Hirano-san. "Why don't you sing it, Alice-chan?" Hirano-san asked with what sounded like a little too much interest for my comfort. "Yeah, Fritjof-niichan could use some new language lessons." Ditlev said most likely with that snarky grin, and this time, I just couldn't help but put my hands over my ears and put my face to the roof as she started singing by herself this time in heavily accented English.

Thankfully it was over almost as quickly as it started. "Okay, have you all had your fill? Could you please sing something else?" I asked in aggravation as I sat back up, looking out at the land just on the other side. "Why don't you join in, Onii-chan?" was the very first response I got out of Alice-chan, and while I could see why she would think that was a good idea, I didn't have it in me to tell a small child how much I had come to grow sick of nursery rhymes, although a good idea did spark after a second of thought. "I have a better idea for a song we can sing." I said with a slowly growing smile as I sat beside them, looking up at the clear blue sky.

"Now this was originally in German, and I wouldn't know how to translate it into Japanese, so I hope you don't mind if I do this in Swedish." I asked shyly as I looked to everyone for signs of approval. Ditlev had a look of suspicion on his face, but Hirano-san and Alice-chan didn't look like they would mind, so I just nodded in response to the silence as I continued to explain my choice. "You don't need to know the words, you've all no doubt heard this song at least once before." I concluded as I closed my eyes and began to hum the tune of one of my favorite songs in the world. I heard Ditlev groan in dread as I started, he knew what I was about to do.

"**Joy, vacker gnista av gudarna, Dotter till Elysium, Vi går in brand insupit, Heavenly, din helgedom.**" I had begun to sing with as much energy as I could, and much to my hope and subsequent delight, they both immediately began to sing out the music alongside me. I was glad to see at least there were some people who recognized truly good music nowadays anymore. With another deep breath, I continued, and it was as if I felt all my troubles disappear with each passing second. "**Din magi återförenar dem, Vem aktern sed har skildes; Alla män blir bröder, Under din mjuka vinge.**"

For the first time in what felt like years, I was actually enjoying myself. It had been so long since I had last been able to just forget all about my worries and obligations, and just let loose in some way, shape or form. It was the best feeling in the world...at least until the duffle bag filled with ammo boxes literally swung out of the window and nailed my in the side of the head. My head was ringing for several seconds as I tried to recollect myself. Once I came to, I was greeted by an extremely irritated looking Alpi climbing up onto the roof through an open passenger window, still clinging onto the strap of his bag.

"**Sinun laulu perseestä, sinulle, kaikki muu on niin syvä nukkuja. Nyt, miksi et anna niiden vain laulaa kuin aikaisemmin.**" _(F: Your singing sucks, Fritjof. Fortunately for you, everybody else is such a deep sleeper. Now why don't you just let them sing like earlier.) _he grumbled as he took a spot amongst us. Ditlev just smiled as he motioned for Hirano-san and Alice-chan to continue. With that, Hirano-san pumped his fist into the air with another psycho grin as he declared: "Now for my version! Let's make this a trio!" Ditlev and Alice-chan both nodded as he pumped his fist once again, and began singing that **jävla** _(S: goddamn)_ tune again, and his English was even more accented than Alice-chan's, but that was nothing compared to his twisted lyrics.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot your gun, kill them all now. Bang, bang, bang, bang, life's but a dream!" he yelled jovially as Alice-chan just laughed happily, clearly not seeing the dark side to his little war song. Ditlev just looked at him, and I think some of the color was gone from his face, and Alpi of course didn't understand any of it so he just kept looking down the river as it glistened under the morning sun, rifle sitting peacefully in his lap.

"Kouhta-oniichan, you're amazing!" Alice-chan exclaimed, overflowing with childish excitement as Hirano-san once again got that freaky grin on his face. I was about to say something to break the discomfort until Takagi-san finally broke her focus from her binoculars and nearly nailed him upside the head, her face once again brimming with anger. "Hey, you chubby otaku! Don't teach a little kid some weird song like that!" she yelled, and once he started nodding his head weakly and whimpering a pitiful "Yes, ma'am." that seemed to calm her down just a little bit. Well, she may have come across as somewhat of a bitch when me, Ditlev and Alpi had first met her, but at least now with Alice-chan in our numbers, she had a legit reason to be. From the attitude she had developed just overnight, I would best explain it by saying that she felt a child as innocent as Alice-chan should be protected from the atrocities of our new world as much as possible, in order to preserve that childlike purity that she unknowingly represented for the rest of us. At least that's what makes the most sense to me.

An awkward silence hung among the rest of us for the last few minutes we crossed the river until I felt a light rapping on the roof from below as Marikawa-sensei announced to us all: "Wake up everyone, we're almost there."

_aaa_

Marikawa-sensei's wake up call registered as more of an indecipherable haze as I woke up with a silent groan, rubbing my eyes to get rid of the last bit of exhaustion nagging at my eyelids. The morning light was reasonably bright through the windows, but thankfully it wasn't shining right in my eyes so I could quickly register just where we were. This time the engine was running, and I could hear the sound of rushing water all around. Looking out the window, I could see we were practically up to the window frame in a river, but there didn't seem to be any sounds of panic, so I didn't think much into it.

"Er...Marikawa-sensei, how long have we been driving like this?" I asked, still visibly tired. "Um...I think we've been going for about three hours now." she answered, clearly not certain as she had to look at the clock before answering me. I just laid back in my seat as I looked out my window, looking at how close my window was to being submerged beneath the water line. "Man, I needed that more than I thought." I mumbled to myself when I felt a familiar hand grasp onto my shoulder.

"Needed what, Bjarte-san?" I heard Rei ask tiredly as I looked back at her, just to be greeted with that warm, kindhearted smile that I had honestly come to love in the past months since we had first met. Like a force of habit, I couldn't find the words to say for a second as I couldn't help but think of what had happened last night. I wonder still if she even recalled the things she had said or the things she had done then or not. Remembering fondly the sweet-tasting sensation of what was my very first kiss from her, I couldn't help but turn a slight shade of red which unfortunately, she noticed.

"Just what are you thinking about, Bjarte-san?" she asked with that same smile, but there was a definite sense of irritation in her otherwise friendly tone. "Oh, uh, nothing. I was just remembering a brief dream I had last night, that's all." I quickly lied with a nervous grin, hoping she wasn't going to get violent if she found out I was lying.

Before she could say anything, Takashi started to stir out of his own sleep, which quickly caught her attention. Thankfully it helped lighten up her mood before she could've gotten really mad. Before returning to his side, she quickly looked back to me, the kindness back in her tone as she briefly put her arms around my back in an embrace. "It's okay, it doesn't really matter." she said softly into my ear before she let go and sat comfortably at his side as he slowly woke up.

As I watched the peaceful scene between the two, I couldn't help but notice that when Rei glanced down, a tweak of what I thought must've been jealousy flashed across her otherwise calm and friendly expression. When I looked down, I could see why. Saeko was laying at his other side, in fact resting her head on his leg, and since she hadn't changed out of that all-too-revealing apron at all, it was very understandable why she would react like that.

"Hang on everybody, we're about to hit the side." Marikawa-sensei called out, and before I could even register what she meant by that, the Humvee hit against the stone bank of the river, hard. The impact nearly threw me forward as it climbed up the steep ramp, and within seconds, we had made it over the edge and were back on solid dry land again, coming to a stop almost immediately.

Once I was sure we had stopped, I threw the passenger door open, stepping out onto solid ground again as I took in our new surroundings. At last, we had finally reached the halfway point of our journey, and now all that was left was to check on everyone's home or theorized hiding places of their families, and then...escape. Just the very thought of it made it feel like it was just around the corner as I breathed in the fresh morning air. Looking back up to the roof of the Humvee, I saw practically everyone I hadn't seen earlier huddled together on top as Takagi-san looked to be scanning the area with the binoculars while Alpi and Hirano-san looked through their rifles.

"So, what's the word then?" I asked curiously as I climbed up to join them. "There's nobody here." Takagi-san answered grimly as I began to look around us with them. She was right, the whole place was empty, no sign of anybody, neither living nor dead. There wasn't a single unnatural sound to be heard, no screams or moans, not even the sound of a car alarm. It was all so still, so silent, nothing but the sound of the wind, the rushing water and the engines rumbling.

"Well, we won't know for certain until we check over the embankment, so why don't we..." before Fritjof could continue, there was a sudden shout from beneath us that nearly made him jump out of his skin in surprise. "It's just Rei waking up the others, nothing to worry about." I said dismissively. Within a minute, Marikawa-sensei, Takashi, Rei and Saeko all filed out, and all that was left now was to work up our next plan of action. As the rest of us climbed down, Kouhta-san handed Alice-chan down to Takashi, but she started to whine about something I couldn't quite catch, before I could even ask, Rei took her from Kouhta-san's hands and snapped at Takashi right out of the blue, something about all us boys being...something or other, she never even finished. The last thing she said was that all the girls were going to change behind the Humvee while the rest of us...I suppose were left to our own devices. Of course Fritjof took care to immediately keep Ditlev under control so as to avoid lethal punishment.

"So...does anyone have any kind of idea where we go next now that we're across the river?" Ditlev asked as he carefully looked over his pistol. At first, nobody answered. We all knew he had a point. I don't think anybody had completely thought the entire plan through, that it just seemed like the best idea when we first thought about it. "Well, almost everyone lives on this side of the river, and the police station can't be too far by now, so if we were to try and head there, chances are we might run into Rei's father." Takashi went on to explain as we all decided to follow Ditlev's example and make sure our gear at hand was all in order.

Once he had mentioned the possibility of meeting Rei's father at the police station, I completely froze. "You mean to say that her father's an officer?" The only response I received was a nod as I slowly got back to checking over my gear. "You don't suppose that if we did end up finding him, and perhaps any other surviving officers...you don't think they would be able to fill us in on how the situation is around the rest of the world, right?" I continued to ask, and when I saw the rest of my friends begin to tense up, Alpi excluded, I knew they already realized where I was going with this.

"I mean, even if they're just average police officers, you would think that they're supposed to be kept informed on how the crisis develops on an international scale, you know?" I continued, and it wasn't so much that I wanted Takashi to give me an uncertain answer, but rather I wanted to let him know ahead of time what I was intending to do if we were to run into any surviving officers. **If **we found any. "I honestly don't know, Bjarte-san. At this point, I think it would be a miracle if anybody still knows what's going on out there."

I just sighed as I slung my assault rifle over my back and pulled out my pistol, beginning to look it all over. "Yeah, you're probably right. Still, it could be possible that the news teams have gotten to some kind of government shelter out at sea by this point, and the rest of the country can still be able to find out any new developments. It's a possibility." I threw out in an attempt to bring out at least a little optimism. Yet, it was mainly to convince myself. Despite my calm demeanor, every second that I didn't know for certain how things were back home was tearing me apart, just as I'm sure it was tearing at every single one of us.

Several seconds of that damned silence hung over the lot of us, the only sound being the chatter between all the girls on the other side of the vehicle, none of us daring to look in their direction lest we suffer their wrath. "Takashi, you know that we're all basically going to stick with you guys as we search for all your families, there's absolutely no doubt about that. However, once we actually do all of that, and all that's left for us is to be rescued...the only thing that will be left for any of us to do is try and find a way to check on our own families." I stated, motioning my finger to myself and the others as I mentioned our families. "If we're left with no other alternative...I think I can safely say we're willing to find a way back home in order to find them ourselves if the situation calls for that. Once you all find your families, you officially have no reason to come back out here..."

Before I could continue, I heard a single pair of footsteps approach from behind, and I could already tell it was him, and I was about to get an earful of whatever he had to say. "Don't even begin to say what I think you're about to." he said in a low, serious voice. "Have you already forgotten? As long as we're all searching for our families, we're all going to stick together." he went on, prompting me to get back onto my feet in order to look at him eye-to-eye.

"You know it's the only way we can hope to survive out there, whether it be here or somewhere halfway across the goddamn planet. And when I say 'as long as we're all searching for our families', I mean **all **of us, you and your friends included." he had continued, and if it wasn't the almost-angry fire in his eyes as he said this that got to me, it was the evident trace of devotion that came from the words he was telling me. I myself couldn't bring myself to accept what he was saying, that the whole lot of them were willing to actually stick with the four of us after reuniting with their own loved ones, even if it meant going halfway across the world to do so. I was so surprised by this declaration of his, I couldn't bring myself to say anything to him when I was sure he had gotten his share out. Yet, I feel that he understood that deep, deep down...I was grateful.

"Are you sure about what you're saying? You realize this means that you would be risking your life, every one of **their **lives, after going through all this trouble to find your own families. You would be willing to throw it all away in the end, for four people that in the long run, you barely even know?" I asked incredulously, looking at him almost as if he was crazy. Don't misunderstand, I was still grateful, but I never thought anyone who would be that willing to help others at such great risk, still even existed. Without even a second's hesitation, Takashi held his hand out to me with that confident smirk. "Bjarte-san, it doesn't matter whether it was only three months or three years. You're our friend, and I can already honestly say just from seeing how the four of you fight, I personally wouldn't want anyone else fighting alongside the rest of us. You and your friends are a part of this group, and just as you said you would stick with us as we look for our loved ones, I promise you that we will stick with you as you all look for yours, no matter how long it could take."

I was completely at a loss for words. To be honest, I almost wanted to cry. Takashi, someone whom I had only known for the last three months, had already considered not just myself, but the four of us as their friends, and was saying right to my face that they would be willing to stay at our sides even if we were forced to go halfway across the world. Whether such a situation would ever come to fruition later on remained to be seen, but that didn't matter now. Whether or not he did actually mean what he was saying to me, I couldn't be entirely positive of. I mean, we're not some elite group of action-movie commandos, we're all a bunch of high-school age students, late teens and one nurse. Whether we would actually be able to pull off such a task or not...again, that would remain to be seen. Overall, I was still overjoyed at this new prospect of partnership that had been formed with only a few words. Nodding to each other in understanding, we briefly shook each others hands in agreement. What had only been a strong feeling on the day this all first started, had turned into a full-blown certainty on my part. I knew then and there that Takashi was the perfect choice to be the leader of our group should such a choice have ever come up in the near future.

When neither of us had anything left to say, Kouhta-san approached us with that shotgun he had last night clenched tightly in his hand. "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I think that while we're here, perhaps this is be a good time to get you all familiarized with how your guns work so that next time we run into any of Them, you'll be able to fight Them more efficiently." he started as he held out the shotgun to Takashi in one hand, as he only looked down at it with visible uncertainty lining his features in response to the sight of it.

"You should be the one to use this, Komuro. It's a relatively wide range weapon, so all you have to do is just aim in the general direction of Their heads, and you could be able to take down a few of Them at a time." Kouhta-san explained in refrained excitement as Takashi could still only look at it nervously. "Hirano, I'm going to be honest with you. I think it would be better used if you held onto it. Personally, I'd be better sticking with my baseball bat. Besides, I already told you I don't know how to use it." he said in mild protest, yet Kouhta-san remained undeterred as he began to point out each individual part of the shotgun. "That's why I'm going to give you a quick and easy rundown on how to use it right. You see, every gun is different in just how exactly you're supposed to fire it..."

As he began his little lecture, I looked over to the others who were all looking at Alpi attentively as he continued looking over his rifle. I already knew they were thinking exactly what I was thinking. I quickly made my way over to them as Alpi finally noticed us all looking at him. "**Onko teillä tarvitset apua jotain?**" _(F: Do you guys need help with something?) _he asked with a sign of aggravation as he set his rifle aside. "**Alpi, ville du kanskje kjenner noen av de viktige detaljene om hvordan vi bruker disse våpnene rett?**' _(N: Alpi, would you perhaps know any of the important details on how we use these guns right?) _I asked nervously as he kept looking over the three of us. Even if we are best friends, he still couldn't help but intimidate me when he didn't look to be in the mood for talk.

''**Ei ole oikeastaan paljon kertoa. Sinä ja Fritjof molemmat näyttivät tietävän, miten käsitellä asetta aika hyvin viime yönä. Ditlev mainitsi, että hän oli kokemusta jousi ja nuolet taas takaisin, joten oletan hän jo tietää.**'' _(F: There isn't really much to tell you. You and Fritjof both seemed to know how to handle a gun pretty well last night. Ditlev mentioned that he had experience with a bow and arrows a while back, so I would assume he already knows.) _He went on as he took his pistol out of its holster and began inspecting that as well. I just sighed impatiently because I knew he was right. Both Fritjof and I proved compitent with our guns, or at least Fritjof did since I only used my pistol once.

''**Vel, har kanskje Fritjof og Ditlev gjøre noen potensielle, men jeg bare har brukt min pistol en gang, og hvis ting i framtiden kommer til å gå slik jeg tror de vil med hell våre, tror jeg det ville være en god idé å bare gi meg de essensielle detaljer slik at jeg ikke ender opp med å få oss alle drept skulle vi ende opp i en slåsskamp.**'' _(N: Well, maybe Fritjof and Ditlev do have some potential, but I've only ever used my pistol once, and if things in the future are going to go the way I think they will with our luck, I think it would be a good idea to just give me the essential details so that I don't end up getting us all killed should we end up in a fight.) _I made my final argument, hoping to get a final answer from him. Several tense seconds passed as I felt he was just ignoring me now, before he finally sighed in defeat and slipped his pistol back into its holster before jumping from the engine hood he had been sitting upon.

''**Hyvä Bjarte. Haluatko minun antaa teille nopeasti pilaantunut, miten palo rynnäkkökivääri, ja käytä pistoolia kunnolla, niin minä näytän sinulle. Mutta kuten me kaikki tiedämme, kello on meitä vastaan , ja enemmän aikaa tuhlaamme, paljon pahempiakin asioita siellä saavat meille. Joten kiinnittää huomiota siihen, mitä sanon teille, koska olen vain mennä sen läpi kerran.**'' _(F: Alright Bjarte. You want me to give you a quick rundown on how to fire your assault rifle, and use your pistol properly, then I'll show you. But as we all know, the clock is against us, and the more time we waste, the much worse things out there will get for us. So pay close attention to what I tell you, cause I'm only going to go through it once.) _he said in what almost sounded like a threatening manner as he suddenly pulled my pistol out of its holster before I could even begin to react. He then shoved the grip into my hands and straightened my arms facing forward so that I was aiming it.

''**Nyt sitten yksi tärkeimpiä yksityiskohtia haluaisin ajatella et tarvitse muistutetaan on turvallisuus. Kun et edessä välitön uhka, aivan ensimmäinen asia tehdä varmoja siitä, että turvallisuus on. Näin et vahingossa tappaa itsesi tai joku muu.**'' _(F: Now then, one of the most important details I would like to think you don't need to be reminded of is the safety. When you're not facing an immediate threat, the very first thing you make sure of is that the safety is on. That way you don't accidentally kill yourself or someone else.) _he immediately started as he pointed out the safety switch on the side of the barrel. Luckily the safety was already on, otherwise I feared he would've gotten physically violent, friends or no.

''**Sama pätee, kun sinulla on edessään välitön uhka. Varmista pirun varma turvallisuudesta on pois päältä, muuten se ei välähdä lainkaan, ja jos olet edessään väkijoukko niistä, tai vielä pahempaa, jotkut hullu joka on ase omasta, että tulee olemaan kaikkein varma tapa saada itse surmansa.**'' _(F: The same applies to when you are facing an immediate threat. Make damn sure the safety is off, otherwise it won't fire at all, and if you're facing a mob of Them, or even worse, some lunatic who has a gun of his own, that'll be the most surefire way to get yourself killed.) _he continued before he suddenly pulled my assault rifle out from over my shoulder, holding it steadily in his hands as he pointed out each individual part.

"**Ei ole väliä mitä aseen saat käsiisi, löydät aina turvakytkin vasemmalla puolella kehoa. Jälleen jokainen ase, paras tapa varmistaa, osut mitä haluat lyödä, on lähentämällä näitä nähtävyyksiä vastakkaisissa päissä elin.**" _(F: No matter what gun you get your hands on, you will always find the safety switch on the left side of the body. Again with each gun, the best way to make sure you hit what you want to hit, is by aligning these sights on opposite ends of the body.) _He proceeded to continue his 'quick-and-easy' tutorial as he pointed out the sights on both ends of my rifle.

"**Kun saat nämä täydellisesti linjassa, ja sinulla on Target in Sight, et voi olla huomaamatta. Tämä koskee sekä kivääreitä ja pistooleja. Nyt automaattinen kiväärien, kuten tämä, ja konepistooleja kuin mitä Fritjof on olemassa kolme eri ampumisen tilaa, eli miten ase laukeaa. Nämä erilaiset asetukset ovat myös osa turvakytkin.**" _(F: When you get these perfectly aligned, and you have your target in sight, you can't miss. This applies to both rifles and pistols. Now with automatic rifles such as this, and submachine guns like what Fritjof has, there are three different firing modes, meaning how your gun will fire. These different setting are also part of the safety switch.) _As he proceeded to pound all of this information into my head to the point my head had started to ache, I could only nod in response. No doubt to someone as interested in guns as Alpi, this was kindergarten stuff he was telling me. Yet, I myself couldn't help but be impressed, and I'm sure Fritjof and Ditlev were the same as they listened in as well. I couldn't help but feel just a little bit more optimistic thanks to all this new info. I felt I wouldn't have any troubles surviving and protecting everyone out there now. For the shortest time, I actually felt invincible.

"**Nämä kolme eri asetukset ovat seuraavat. Ensinnäkin on automaattinen, mikä tarkoittaa periaatteessa sitä, että niin kauan kuin pidät liipaisinta veti alas, ase on vain jatkuvasti tulta kunnes loppuu. Sitten on puoliautomaattinen tai räjähtää tulessa joitakin sotilaallisia ryhmiä viitata siihen. Tämä on, kun vedät liipaisimesta ja ase vain tulipalojen lyhyt sarja luoteja ennen kuin olet ampua uudelleen. Sitten on vain yksi tulipalo, joka on, jos sinun täytyy vain ampua kuin pistooli, liipaisinta kunkin ammuttu. On hienoa, että autat seurata kuinka käytät ammuksia, mutta kun olet edessään suuri joukko vihollisia, se on parasta mennä jotain räjähtää tulipalossa.**" _(F: These three different settings are as follows. First, there's automatic, which basically means that as long as you keep the trigger pulled down, the gun will just continuously fire until you run out. Then you have Semi-automatic, or burst fire as some military teams refer to it. This is when you pull the trigger, and the gun only fires a short burst of bullets before you have to fire again. Then you just have single fire, which is where you just have to fire it like a pistol, pull the trigger for each individual shot. It's great for helping keep track of how you use your ammo, but when you're facing a large group of hostiles, it's best to go with something like burst fire.) _

Once he had finished going over the fire-types, he held out the assault rifle to me, and I just nodded with a smile as I took it back, looking over it with a kind of fascination now that I knew so much about how to use it. He then handed me back my pistol, and I looked over that as well before slipping it into my holster.''**Nyt viimeinen tieto Haluaisin huomauttaa ennen kuin kutsumme päivässä. Me kaikki tiedämme nyt, että he voivat metsästää äänen. Onneksi meillä on etu tässä tapauksessa. Bjarte, Fritjof, olet kullakin yksi ase jo varustettiin vaimennin. Tämä tarkoittaa sitä, että voisi ampua näitä aseita keskellä joukko heitä, ja he eivät voi kuulla teitä. Ainakin he miltei eivät voisi kuulla, ellet potkut sen vieressä yksi.**'' _(F: Now one last detail I would like to point out before we call it a day. We all know now that They can only hunt by sound. Fortunately, we have an advantage in that case. Bjarte, Fritjof, you each have one weapon already outfitted with a suppressor. That means you could be able to fire those guns in the middle of a crowd of Them, and they wouldn't be able to hear you. At least, they almost wouldn't be able to hear you unless you fired it right next to one.) _he continued, grabbing the barrel of my rifle, therefore pointing out the said suppressor screwed tightly onto the end, which also prompted Fritjof to draw his own pistol out to see he indeed had the same as me for his sidearm.

"**Parempi vielä, Ditlev aseistetut jousella ja nuolella asettaa, joka käytännössä ei melua lainkaan, joten hän olisi voinut teknisesti taistella näkymätöntä kuin sinä. Älä kuitenkaan anna tämän tiedon mene päätä. Haluan kuitenkin sanoa, että olisi parasta, että me kaikki taistelemme etäisyyden pitäisi koskaan joutua suuri joukko.**" _(F: Better yet, Ditlev's armed with a bow and arrow set, which makes virtually no noise at all, so he'd be able to technically fight invisible just like you. However, don't let this information go to your heads. I would still say that it would be best that we all fight from a distance should we ever be faced with a large crowd.) _He finally finished as we all put our weapons back into place. This was great, I just couldn't believe how much our luck had suddenly changed for the better. Perhaps we now had a much better chance of getting out of this was all I could think about.

As Alpi got his rifle slung over his back, I brought my attention back to Takashi and Kouhta-san, who for some reason looked reasonably upset about something as Takashi now had the shotgun in his hands. "Is everything okay, guys?" I couldn't help but ask as Takashi broke his attention from the shotgun back to me and the others. "Yeah, everything's fine. I was just having a hard time following all the stuff Hirano's been teaching me for the last few minutes. What about you guys?"

"Ah, we're all okay. Alpi was just giving me and Fritjof a quick rundown on how to use our automatic weapons. Good thing too, because he helped us remember the suppressors we've both got on one of our weapons. That along with Ditlev's bow and arrow set, we have a much better chance of getting through a fight with any of Them without risking drawing attention from more." I went on to explain as they both seemed to understand the benefits as much as I did.

"Well, with any luck, perhaps we won't have to fight a lot of Them on this side of the river. It's the strangest thing. We haven't seen a single one of Them at all since this day started." Takashi commented, his voice lowering considerably as he looked up the embankment we had to get over, to the numerous abandoned buildings that stood just across the street at the top. "It just seems a little too convenient." he whispered as I also looked all around us, taking in the silence once more. I knew deep down that he was right to be suspicious of these circumstances. I had felt a nagging feeling much like his since this day had started. Hell, I had started to feel traces of it even earlier last night after we had escaped the house. "Yeah, I think you're right. What do you think we should..."

Before I could continue asking him what he thought we should have done next, Alice-chan suddenly called out to us from the other side of the Humvee. "Onii-chan!" Acting purely on reaction, the whole lot of us made our way to the back end of the Humvee, and what stood before us made every single one of us stop dead in our tracks in wide-eyed wonder. All the girls stood before us, Rei, Takagi-san and Saeko in particular, back in their original uniforms, but also mixed with fingerless leather gloves, protective kneepads and combat boots, and Rei even had herself armed with what was no doubt the biggest of the assault rifles we had found, while Takagi-san remained unarmed and Saeko just had her wooden sword at her side. I couldn't really explain it, there was just something about this 'combat-ready' look they all had about them that left us speechless.

"What, do you guys have a problem?" Rei finally asked, albeit a bit irritated. "No, no, nothing like that. In fact, it really suits you." Takashi answered in nervous protest as he just looked over her weapon with concern. "I just can't help but wonder, do you even know how to shoot that thing? Did your dad also demonstrate assault rifles when you were younger?" he asked, which brought her attention back to it as well. "Well, no. I don't exactly know how to shoot it, but I'm sure Hirano-kun could be able to show me how to use it." she answered confidently as she glanced over to a now slightly red Kouhta-san.

"Yeah, Kouhta-san really is an excellent trainer when it comes to guns, and luckily for us, he's not the only one." I spoke out as I lightly pushed Alpi a step forward from the rest of us, receiving a brief angry glare from him over the shoulder. "Yeah. We've got two overall weapons experts in our numbers, so if any of you girls want to grab whichever of the guns are left, I'm sure these guys wouldn't have a problem showing you the ropes. I can help translate for him as well if you'd want his help." Ditlev piped in eagerly, and just the fact that he was talking earned him another angry glare out of Alpi, who probably just correctly assumed what he could've been saying.

"Are you sure you'll be okay carrying a gun that big around with you, Rei?" I asked once everyone had started moving about to get ready to hit the road once more. "Yeah, I'll be okay. Even if I can't fire it, I can still use it like a spear." Once she had mentioned the spear possibility, Kouhta-san was immediately set off as he went back into his 'gun nut' mode once again. "Then you're in luck. The U.S. Army actually does attach bayonets to guns just like what you're carrying. Luckier still, we actually have a few bayonet attachments in one of the ammo crates." Like a shot, he was running for the very back of the Humvee, and almost as quickly as he had left, he was back with a large combat knife in his hand. "Luckily for the model of rifle you're carrying, all you have to do is fit this hole in the blade's protective handle around the muzzle of the gun. Once it won't go any further down the barrel of the gun, you won't have to worry about it getting detached, unless you were to get it embedded in something like stone." he went on to explain as he fitted the bayonet over the barrel of her rifle, and before either of us could say anything, he was already gone.

I looked after where Kouhta-san had run off to for a couple seconds before I brought my attention back to Rei, who was still focusing entirely on the large knife now protruding from her gun. Normally I wouldn't have paid it any mind, but...there was something in her eyes as she stared at it, a look of what I could only describe as fear. That kind of fear when someone gets their hands on a truly lethal weapon for the very first time. I'm sure I must've had the same look back at Fujimi High when I had first gotten my machete, or back at the house when I first got my Fabrique Nationale.

"Are you alright, Rei?" I couldn't help but ask, taking a step towards her, luckily getting her attention on the first try. "Y-yes. I'm okay." she answered, but I could clearly tell she was nervous still, and I had a pretty good idea of what. "It's a scary feeling, holding a lethal firearm in your hands for the first time, isn't it?" I asked solemnly as I made my way to the foot of the embankment, sitting myself on the grass with Rei following close behind. "It is. Before all of this happened, I never once thought I would actually be fighting with spears and guns...and yet, here we are now, changed from high school students to survivors that are forced to kill just to get through a single day."

Listening to this lament, I ran my fingers through my hair with a depressed sigh as I slowly looked over all my fellow survivors still gathered around the Humvee. "Yeah...this is such a terrible new world we've been forced to live in. Not even half a week has passed, and everything we once knew has fallen apart. Our own fellow survivors out there in the streets are most likely bloodthirsty psychopaths, so we can't even trust other humans anymore, and we're essentially just wandering the streets on an assumption. We don't know if our families are still alive or not, and even if they are, it doesn't change a thing. This is what our lives are going to be. That's all there is to it."

"It's all clear, everyone! There's none of Them around, so it's safe to come up!" I suddenly heard Takashi call down to us, prompting me to get back on my feet. The Humvee roared back to life as I saw Takashi, Kouhta-san and Alpi standing atop the embankment, Alpi still constantly looking left and right through his scope. Without any warning, the Humvee came speeding right past me and went rumbling up the side of the embankment, and even catching a few seconds of air upon reaching the edge, resulting in a nearly deafening landing back onto the street.

"Well, I guess it's time to find out if we are just wasting our time or not." I muttered as the rest of us began to climb up the embankment, myself lagging behind the rest of the group, yet Rei stayed beside me the whole way. "Bjarte-san, I'm not going to pretend that what you're saying right now isn't justified. We're all scared, for ourselves and for our families. I understand that there is a chance my parents may not have survived, but I choose to think that it's more likely they're still alive right now. It is a possibility that we could be wasting our time with this search, but at least it gives us a purpose, a reason to be wandering these streets. Anyone else would think it's suicide, and perhaps it is." she had begun, with her tone slowly and steadily growing more and more angry, forcing me to actually take a step back from her. I realized I probably crossed a line by mentioning the possibility of her parents being dead, yet for some stupid reason I actually hadn't expected that kind of reaction. I really felt like more of an ass than I ever had before, if I ever had once before.

I couldn't bring myself to look back at her as we both continued up after the others. I felt that at this point, I didn't have a right to argue with her for being so mad, that she was in the right in this case. The silence between us had become nearly unbearable when I suddenly felt her take my hand in hers, forcing me to glance sideways towards her. To my surprise, she actually looked sad now rather than angry. "I'm sorry, Bjarte-san. I really didn't mean to snap at you..." she had begun, which immediately led me to cut her off with a stern: "No."

"You shouldn't have to apologize for that. You had every right to be mad right there, Rei. I understand, everyone with myself included are all scared beyond words for their families safety, and I shouldn't have thrown such a pessimistic view into the whole subject. It's just that I can't shake this feeling deep in my gut that things are only going to get a lot worse before they get any better." I explained in an overall low voice as I kept my eyes glued to the grass at my feet. "I mean, I don't think there's a single one of us that's more scared than anyone else, but it's just the fact that neither I, or Fritjof, Ditlev or Alpi have any way to even check and see if our families are safe, so unlike you guys, who have some relative idea of where your families even are, the four of us are completely in the dark."

"I understand that, Bjarte-san. I also understand that the kind of fear you and the others have can turn into a pessimistic outlook when things turn out bad enough. If there's any one thing that I can tell you, it would be that you just need to remind yourself, and the others as well that it's still only been a little over two days since this all started, and that chances are more than likely your families are somewhere safe. You can at least just remind yourself of that if you ever feel like this again." She had said this to me with as much of a happy tone as I'm sure she could bring herself to have as we finally caught up with the others. "Thank you, Rei. I'll be sure to keep that in mind." I said with a weak smile as she smiled back at me and nodded her head in understanding before making her way to the others around the Humvee.

I know that what she was telling me, she was only doing it with the best intentions at heart. Whether she herself really believed what she had just said, I couldn't tell you, nor did I want to ask. I felt it would be best to just let her keep following her own advice. I'm sure that seeing me in such a depressed state was really getting to her, and helping me would end up helping all of us in the long run I'm sure.

I quickly noticed Takagi-san scanning the streets ahead with the binoculars again, joined by Kouhta-san and Alpi through their scopes. None of them said anything to each other, which immediately registered to me that something was very wrong. "So, what do you guys think?" I asked as I approached them from behind, none of them turning to answer me. "It's troubling. From what we can see down there, I don't think the police were able to keep Them from getting across the river." Takagi-san answered grimly as I looked past them to the streets below us. Indeed, there were a few cars smashed into the walls of houses and other buildings, and blood all over the ground around them. "It's also a possibility that this could've been caused by whichever of Them might have come from this side of the river. Either way, it doesn't shake this feeling I've been having since this morning. You would think that we would've seen at least one of Them at all today, and yet we haven't. It's making me feel uneasy, and I'm sure everyone else has started to feel the same by now as well."

Takagi-san had completely taken the words right out of my mouth. Something about this didn't feel right, and I felt that it was going to come around the corner and kick us right in the teeth before this day was through. "We can't really be all that surprised with this discovery." Saeko suddenly spoke out as she and Rei approached the four of us. "Let's not forget, according to the news, this is the way it looks all over the world."

"Well, as bad as things are, it's still a strong possibility that the police are still around right now." Rei chimed in optimistically, and thankfully nobody seemed to want to argue, whether it be that they agreed with her point, or just wanted to keep a positive outlook going for as long as they could. "That is true. Japan's police force is very dedicated, so it doesn't seem likely that they would have given up by this point. Chances are there's still quite a few squads posted around the city, looking for survivors and trying to maintain some sense of order." Takagi-san stated with probably one of the very first times I had ever seen her smile even slightly.

"That's probably how it is everywhere in the world. I mean, I can't speak for how the police force is acting in the U.S., but I do know that our police forces back home would never back down from protecting the people, no matter how desperate a situation might look from the start. I mean, the news a couple days ago said that a lot of Central and Southern Europe had some very chaotic situations arising all over, but I'm willing to bet that at least the UK and Northern Europe currently have things under control." I decided to speak up as we made our way from the edge of the road back to the Humvee. Looking back on how I had felt at that moment, I still can't help but smile about it. Rei was right, at least pretending to be optimistic until you hear actual good news really does help all the same.

"So does anyone have an idea of what we'll do next?" Marikawa-sensei asked with her head poked out the window as we all the Humvee. "Well it all depends. Takagi, your house is in 2-Choome at Higashi Hill, isn't it?" Takashi asked as Takagi-san climbed up past us into the front passenger seat, a street map sticking out of the pocket of her jacket."Yeah, that's right." she answered bluntly as the engine once again rumbled to life. "Well in that case, your house is the closest, so perhaps it's best that we stop there first. But..."

In the middle of his planning, Takashi had unexpectedly stopped himself, and when we all looked at him, there was an unnerving sense of uncertainty in his eyes, as if he was struggling to bring himself to mention the idea of her parents being dead already. "I understand, Komuro. I don't have much hope myself, actually. Yet..." she had cut him off in a surprisingly calm, almost gentle manner as we slowly began to roll forward. "Of course. Alright then, it's settled. Let's go." At Takashi's word, we were once again going down the open road, with who-knows-what standing between us and our new destination at Takagi-san's house.

After about ten minutes, everyone had gotten themselves settled into place, Takashi, Rei, Fritjof and I taking sentry places on the roof. Luckily we weren't in a desperate rush to escape from anything, so we weren't at risk of getting thrown off this time, which I was immensely grateful for. It gave each of us a much better opportunity to try and look at the nearly lifeless city around us in a much different light, a much more beautiful point of view.

"Man, it's amazing, isn't it?" I asked after a few minutes of blissful silence as we continued to drive. "What are you talking about, Bjarte?" Fritjof asked, clearly uninterested as I just swung one arm over his shoulder, using my other arm to motion out to the cityscape all around us. "This. All of this. Just yesterday, this was no doubt practically a deathtrap, crawling with dozens upon dozens of Them at every street corner, and we all would've been able to do nothing but fight. Yet, today there isn't a single one of Them to be seen, no fires, no psychopaths, no screams or sirens or gunshots, nothing but the sound of the wind and our own voices. The sky is surprisingly clear today, and everything is bathing in the brightest morning sun I've seen in years. Admit it Fritjof, you know it's beautiful as much as I do." I exclaimed, nearly laughing halfway through my little verbal tirade on my stingy friend.

It was such a weird feeling, seeing everything so peaceful, without a single sign of life to be seen whatsoever, it actually brought out a nearly childlike excitement in me that I hadn't felt in ages. It both overjoyed me, and it worried me. It overjoyed me, because I thought this was what honest optimism felt like, without having to worry about anything if for just a moment. And it worried me because it made me wonder if this happiness was happening because I was starting to actually enjoy this new world we were living in. As much as I tried to shut out that second idea deep into the corners of my mind, it just kept scratching at me as I kept trying to see everything in this positive new light.

"Bjarte-san does have a point. It really is rather pretty. Almost serene." I heard Rei chime in as I noticed her and Takashi were also looking over all the empty streets and vast expanses of the city below us as we went on our way. "Maybe we'll get lucky and we won't run into any before we get to Takagi-san's house." I mused as I rested myself flat against the roof, looking up at the deep blue morning sky, savoring the cool wind blowing against my face. Closing my eyes, I began to imagine a familiar tune from my childhood playing in my head, inspiring me to start whistling the tune unconsciously, until Fritjof started nudging me in the ribs with his elbows a few minutes later.

"Don't fall asleep from boredom yet, Bjarte. We still have to keep our eyes open for any trouble on the way, alright?" he accosted me before he turned back to his own view from the roof. Shaking my head to get the last of the music out of my head, I got my head back into the game...at least for a couple more minutes until I felt Rei tap me on the shoulder. "Is something wrong, Rei?" I asked, barely looking over my shoulder as both she and Takashi sat beside me, neither of them looking as serious as Fritjof had.

"No, nothing's wrong. Rei was just curious what that music you were whistling was." Takashi said as we all three turned our attention back to the tall garden hedgerows that were now lining our street. Remembering back to it, I smiled faintly as I slung my rifle back over my shoulder, leaning back carefree. "Ahh, it was just a song I heard all the time when I was a little kid, around Alice-chan's age. My uncle back in Oslo had this huge collection of records he had amassed over the years, and there was one group he always liked to play whenever I would visit him, because he knew how much I loved it. It was some old pop song from the 60's by some group I can't really remember the name of now. It's silly, I loved this one song so much, it was the only song I ever learned to speak English from. It's literally the only English I know." I began to explain, my smile growing ever wider as I remembered all those happy memories. It almost brought a tear to my eye, making me wish I could go back to those simpler times, away from all of this madness.

"It sounded nice when you were whistling it earlier. Do you think you could be able to show us how it goes?" Rei asked, and once again, it felt like my ears were playing tricks on me, cause I swear she sounded really nervous, almost even shy when she asked. Looking back at Fritjof, who still had his back turned to us, I didn't see any kind of sign that he was about to do anything to dissuade us, so I just shrugged my shoulders as I began to take deeper breaths in an attempt to brace myself. "Well, if you guys really don't mind me doing it in English, I don't see why not."

Taking one last deep breath, I began whistling the starting tune to it before I finally got to the words, and for a minute, it really felt like I could hear all the music itself playing clearly in my head, as if I was seven years old again in my uncle's den with my two cousins.

"_Loneliness, is a cloak you wear. A deep shade of blue, is always there. The sun ain't gonna shine anymore. The moon ain't gonna rise in the sky. The tears are always clouding your eyes, when you're without love._" I had begun to sing, putting every ounce of my heart into delivering the feeling as much as possible. As I continued, I could feel my heart beginning to flutter as I got more and more passionate with it. For a moment, this felt like true bliss, something I believe I had never felt before. Remembering that the song was disappointingly short, I had decided to take the liberty to repeat the song while not breaking the rhythm to the best of my ability.

I could not be able to tell you pleasantly surprised I was when I actually heard Rei and Takashi both beginning to sing the words along with me, although their English was a bit more broken. That mattered none to me then, I was in a state of perpetual joy in this little pocket of my mind, reliving my happiest memories and being able to share it with some of my newest, and already dearest friends, with almost nothing being able to destroy it.

As the three of us continued, and no doubt Fritjof and everyone else in the humvee could hear us clearly from the very beginning, I drew my attention back to the clear blue sky, never stopping my words as I looked all over. For a few seconds, something suddenly occurred to me, and I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed this earlier. I remembered that yesterday, back when we had been stuck on that bus, there were airplanes and helicopters flying all over the sky to evacuate civilians, going all around like crazy. That day, however, there wasn't a single jet, helicopter, or airplane to be seen anywhere.

I started to wonder if anyone else had noticed this as well, and when I glanced over to Rei and Takashi, at first neither of them looked like they had noticed anything, until I saw Takashi's eyes as he glanced up to the sky again. This wasn't a look of sudden surprise, he had noticed this already, and I knew then and there that this was bothering him as much as me. I honestly didn't know what this could've meant, but deep down, I knew that it meant things were going to take a turn for the worse.

**Well everybody, there's chapter 8 for you all. For those of you that have watched the anime, but have not read the manga, I apologize for this being a much less eventful and action-packed chapter as the others. This is just all that had happened in the chapter 8 of the manga. To everyone else, I want to thank you all for your support since the start of this story, and I would like all of you to give a prayer for the people suffering from the massive earthquake that struck Japan on March 11th, 2011. **

**Now in regards to anyone curious of the song inclusions I threw in for this chapter. The story that Ditlev is describing to Kouhta and Alice is a reference to the ending of the latest album by legendary Danish heavy metal icon, King Diamond, called "Give Me Your Soul, Please." The song that Fritjof begins to sing while crossing the river is the legendary "Ode to Joy" by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, but the lyrics are of course in Swedish. The song that Bjarte sings to Rei and Takashi at the very end is an amazing song by the sadly underrated American 60's pop band The Walker Brothers, entitled "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore."**

**Now for song recommendations for scenes.**

**The only one I can really come up with for this chapter is this: During the scene when the Humvee is making its way through the empty streets on the way to Takagi's house, before all the dialogue kicks in, something I felt really captured the peace and serenity of this relatively peaceful environment is a track simply entitled: "IMB 1" by Icelandic experimentalist Johann Johannsson. Easy to find on a certain video website if you just look up the name.**

**Anyway, you all know the drill by now. Read and review, recommend it to anymore Scandinavian members you or a friend may know (I'm still extremely grateful for all the readers from Sweden) and above all else, I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. However, I would very much appreciate a few more reviews. I really want to know what you all think of it so far.**


	9. Kapittel Ni: Med Ryggen Mot Veggen

Well everyone, I guess there really isn't all that much for me to say other than, here's chapter 9 for you guys. A big thank you to all my English-speaking readers, a big Takk, Tack, Tak and Kiitos to my Scandinavian readers, every last one of my readers, I love you all. I don't own HOTD, it's property of the Sato Brothers. I just own my OC's and the events that spark from their existence. You all know the process: read, review, recommend and enjoy.

Kapittel Ni: Med Ryggen Mot Veggen (N: Chapter Nine: With Our Backs Against The Wall)

"**Drej til venstre for Kristi skyld! Drej til venstre!**" _(D: Turn left for Christ's sake! Turn left!)_ I screamed in panic as we had run into another road-blocking cluster of Them. When Marikawa-sensei didn't act immediately, Alpi lunged between the front seats and pulled the wheel to the left as hard as he could, nearly causing us to flip over, but just barely making it. "**Jeesus vitun Kristus, missä helvetissä He tulevat yhtäkkiä?**" _(F: Jesus fucking Christ, where the hell did They all come from all of a sudden?)_ he growled through gritted teeth as he pulled his pistol from its holster, rolling down his window halfway, aiming it through the opening, firing almost instantly and nailing one through the eye.

That question was the one thing we all were thinking. One minute we had been driving peacefully through completely empty streets, and then the very next minute we had found ourselves nearly surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of Them. Every turn we tried to make, we would only be met by more, and the noise we were making trying to fight Them off was only drawing more out. "**Ditlev, herää vittu ja ampua!**" _(F: Ditlev, wake the fuck up and shoot!)_ he continued shouting as he fired off several more shots as we made another sharp left turn. Looking down, I noticed the handle of my pistol sticking out from my pocket. Quickly grabbing it and making sure to switch the safety off, I rolled the window halfway down and had the barrel sticking out through the opening as I struggled focusing on a single target.

"**Der er for mange af dem, kan jeg ikke vælge et skud!**" _(D: There's too many of Them, I can't pick a shot!)_ I shouted desperately, earning me a furious smack over the back of the head out of him. "**Unohda poiminta tavoite, vain palo jumala perkele!**"_ (F: Forget picking a target, just fire god dammit!)_ he shouted before getting back to his spot and firing off three more shots. Looking around desperately for absolutely anything I could do, I looked back to see Kouhta-san firing off his assault rifle through the back window as Alice-chan sat curled up in the corner, no doubt terrified beyond all rational thought.

"Kouhta-san, how are we doing with ammo?" I asked as I tried to get my aim steady once again, prematurely firing off one shot and only nailing a stone wall in the process. "We've still got plenty of ammo boxes that are full, but we need to focus on getting through this group and get somewhere safe!" he yelled back to me, sounding more excited rather than worried. I brought my attention back to my aim as we made another sharp turn to the right, heading up a slanted hill, several violent bumps lining the way, no doubt numbers of Them that were in our way. Taking a deep breath, I fired off two more shots, the first nailing one in the forehead, and the second nailing another in the shoulder.

Throughout the ride, I could hear short bursts of rapid machine gun fire from the roof, and I remembered that Bjarte, Fritjof, Takashi-san and Rei-san were still stuck on the roof, no doubt hanging on for dear life while trying to clear the road of any of Them. "You guys, how're you holding out up there?" I shouted up to them before taking another shot, nearly decapitating another one. "How the hell do you think we're holding up, Ditlev? Keep shooting!" I heard Fritjof yell back down to me, just as we were met with another violent bump on the road, mixed with the sounds of numerous bones breaking beneath our wheels.

"This doesn't make any sense! The closer we get to Higashi Hill's 2-Choome, the more of Them there are!" I could hear Takashi yell in anger as we made yet another sharp turn to the left, and this time one of Them had gotten so close, its head smashed into my window, specks of the resulting blood splashing on my face as I was thrown back into Alpi, causing him to miss another shot. "Jumala perkele Ditlev, lopeta pelleily ja saada takaisin ammunta! Ei liian monta meille muille ottamaan omaan!" (F: God dammit Ditlev, stop screwing around and get back to shooting! There's too many for the rest of us to take out on our own!) he yelled angrily as he shoved me away back to my window, the mess of blood still splattered across it.

"Ditlev-san, I'm almost empty! Grab me another magazine of the AR-10 ammo!" I suddenly heard Kouhta-san shout back to me, this time starting to sound a bit panicked. Acting fast, I slipped my pistol back and jumped over the backseats, landing roughly next to him. Wasting not even a second, I started sorting through all the different duffle bags of ammo until I finally found the stash of AR-10 magazines. "Here's two coming at you!" I said as I grabbed the two nearest ones, practically tossing them to him before I suddenly heard Rei scream: "Sensei, stop!"

Before I was even able to figure out what she was talking about, I barely made out Saeko saying something about wires, and almost immediately afterwards, the car came to the sharpest turn yet, enough to send me flying off my feet, and then the last thing I remembered was flying face first into the window frame, and then...blackness.

aaa

''**Å Kristus, de er overalt!**'' _(N: Oh Christ, They're everywhere!)_ I growled angrily through gritted teeth as I steadied the sights of my rifle and fired off another burst, managing to only take out two of Them. Kneeling beside me were Rei and Takashi, who were at that moment just trying to hang onto the edges of the roof for dear life as we kept making numerous sharp turns through the main streets and side roads, meeting only more and more of Them congesting the streets. Fritjof had gotten himself situated inside the porthole, clutching onto his gun for dear life, but he wasn't firing, he was just shaking uncontrollably and mumbling to himself.

''Guys, for the love of god, I can't kill Them all by myself! Help me!'' I shouted in desperation once I had run out of ammo for my first magazine. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my second one, quickly slamming it in and levelling my sight before Rei suddenly shouted for Marikawa-sensei to stop. Looking ahead, I immediately saw what she did, a large wire fence had been stretched across the road, and we were headed right for it. In a millisecond's glance, I noticed Rei wasn't holding onto the roof anymore and was only on her knees. I instantly knew what could've happened if we were about to swerve, and I even admit now that for those few seconds, I chose not to think this through.

''Rei, hold on!'' I shouted to her as I roughly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back down to her stomach, but unfortunately, it only took those few seconds for what followed to occur. The screeching of the tires pierced the already deafening air as the Humvee swerved to its side, and before I even realized what was happening, I found myself flying through the air, no solid ground beneath my feet, nothing for me to grab onto. It felt like it lasted for hours, and yet almost as quickly as it had happened, I met the asphalt below with probably the most painful impact I've ever experienced. I rolled, and I blacked out for several seconds. By the time I had come to, all the sounds were muffled together, almost like shellshock, a ringing in the back of my head that wouldn't stop.

I was flat on my stomach, and when I brought my face up to see what was happening, I was really surprised to see that the swerve had actually thrown me over to the other side of the wires, and there wasn't a single one of Them to be seen where I was. Of course this was what I noticed after I saw the Humvee had come to a stop several feet ahead of me on the other side. My first attempt to get back on my feet was met with an unbearable burning pain in my left shoulder. No matter how little I tried to move it, it felt like someone had cut my shoulder open, shoved a metal bar into the hole and then melted it.

Trying to fight the pain as best as I could, I was able to get back on my feet, and it still felt like my head was spinning as I tried to run back to the Humvee's spot. My hearing gradually came back to me once I had caught up with them. What I saw once I could see past the engine froze me in my tracks, and I felt a chill go up my spine as I was only able to assume the worst for the shortest time. Rei was lying flat on the ground, a pained expression on her face as Takashi jumped from the roof back down to her. ''Takashi, what the hell happened to Rei! Is she alright?'' I asked frantically, shaking the wire fence angrily with my one good hand as the only answer I received was the first blast from his shotgun into the slowly approaching horde of Them.

''Hirano, what the hell happened? I aimed at his head, but it hardly did anything!'' Takashi yelled up to Kouhta-san angrily as he fired off several bursts from his rifle from the Humvee porthole. ''You're no good at this, Komuro! The recoil will make the barrel aim a little higher than where you point it! Pay attention to the recoil and aim for the chest!'' he shouted down before opening fire again. Through all their talk, I could only look back down at Rei as she began to barely squirm in pain.

Amidst the following blasts from Takashi's shotgun and Kouhta-san's rifle, I suddenly heard another blast, one I was much more familiar with. Looking back to the Humvee, I saw Alpi make his way towards Takashi with his rifle raised, firing off shot after shot, each one nailing the closest in the face. I looked back up to the roof, and just as I had thought, Fritjof was still on the roof next to Kouhta-san, but he wasn't firing either of his guns, he was just hanging onto the roofs edge still, shaking in fear. Then looking around again, I noticed Ditlev wasn't to be seen anywhere.

''**Alpi, hva skjedde? Hvor er Ditlev?**'' _(N: Alpi, what happened? Where's Ditlev?)_ I asked worriedly as he kept firing shot after shot, dropping a single one of Them one by one. ''**Kun ajautui välttää lyömällä aita, hän naulattiin päänsä ikkunan kehykseen. Tippui kylmä.**'' _(F: When we swerved to avoid hitting the fence, he nailed his head on the window frame. Got knocked out cold.)_ he yelled back to me before firing off another shot, this time nailing two in a row. I shook the wire in my hand violently as I looked from Rei to Takashi, then from Alpi to Kouhta-san and Fritjof. We were losing fighters fast, and the only option I had was to shoot my rifle one-handed, and my dominant arm had gotten royally fucked up.

Just as I began to reach around for my rifle, I suddenly felt something grab my foot, and looking down, I nearly jumped a yard backwards. It looked like one of Them had gotten crushed between the Humvee and the wire and had gotten horrifically dismembered as a result. It was just the head and the upper half of the torso just below the lungs, crawling slowly towards me with its one remaining arm. Seeing such a horrific sight...did something to me. It felt like a fatal dose of adrenaline had been shot right into my heart, my whole body went stiff and all I could see was red. For what felt like a lifetime, the only thing I could feel was the splash of cold blood on my face, and violent tremors rumbling up my good arm every second.

"**Du jævler! Du tror du kan drepe meg? Du tror vi vil la deg spise oss? Jeg skal drepe deg! Jeg dreper hver eneste jævla en av dere!**" _(N: You motherfuckers! You think you can kill me? You think we'll let you eat us? I'll kill you! I'll kill every last fucking one of you!)_ I could hear a voice screaming inside my head, screaming in utmost rage and uncomparable hatred. I could only be able to describe it as what pure bloodlust would sound like if it were given a voice. "Bjarte, stop it! Snap out of it! Stop!" I could hear Fritjof's voice yelling at me from what sounded like a great distance. Then my vision was filled with a blinding light.

By the time I had finally come to my senses, I was standing over the body, and its head had been reduced to a red mushy pulp. Looking over to my wrench held tightly in my hand, I could see it was covered in blood, bits of skull and grey matter. I could feel all the color drain from my face as I quickly put two and two together. Dropping the wrench to the ground, I slowly got back on my feet, the pain from my shoulder completely numb to me as I slowly backed away in horror. Was I losing it? Was I actually going crazy, controlled by a violent rage that I never knew I could've ever had?

"Bjarte, we need all the firepower we can get! Help us!" I suddenly heard Takashi shout out to me before firing another blast, annihilating three at once. My heart was still racing, but I smacked the side of my head to get the last of the pain from my head as I then took the rifle into my hand and had the barrel rested on the wires, levelling my sights with my shoulder until I had my mark. "Takashi, get down!" I shouted just before pulling the trigger, an immediate burst following as three heads splattered and two others got bullets to the throat and chest. Unfortunately, due to my better arm being crippled, my aim was much worse than I had been foolishly hoping for.

"**Bjarte, mitä sinä teet? Olet vasenkätinen niin miksi ei käytä sitä?**" _(F: Bjarte, what are you doing? You're left handed, so why not use that?)_ I heard Alpi shout to me as he slid over the engine hood, immediately planting the barrel of his rifle on it once he had gotten to the other side, firing two shots without even a seconds hesitation. ''**Jeg ferska skulderen min da jeg ble kastet over ledningene! Dette er det beste jeg kan gjøre!**'' _(N: I busted my shoulder when I got thrown over the wires! This is the best I can do!)_ I yelled back in a rage as I kept firing burst after burst, only managing to kill either two or three while pointlessly hitting four or five others.

''Fritjof, get back in the Humvee and see if you can wake up Ditlev! The four of us can't hold them off like this!'' I yelled up to him, never taking my eyes off each of my targets, and with each jerk back of the rifle as every bullet fired, I could feel that fire inside me beginning to grow again. Glancing for only a split second, I saw him starting to climb back inside before another burst of Takashi's shotgun drew my attention back. ''Takashi, is Rei alright? What happened?'' I finally remembered to ask once I saw her again, and she looked to be in sheer agony at this point.

''Their guts were causing the Humvee to slide when we swerved to avoid the crash. When Sensei had gotten it to stop, she got thrown over, landed on the hood first and then on the pavement!'' he yelled back in a rushed description before he blasted two more. Gritting my teeth in a mixture of anger and desperation, I ran up to her from my side of the wire, firing a burst every two steps and unfortunately not managing to kill a single one.

''Rei, how badly are you hurt? Can you move?'' I asked in my worst attempt at a calm tone as I got down onto my knees, firing burst after burst until I suddenly heard that dreaded click when I pulled the trigger. ''**Alpi, jeg er ute! Få meg noen av de FN magasiner! Skynd deg!**'' _(N: Alpi, I'm out! Get me some of the FN magazines! Hurry!)_ I shouted as I swung it back over my shoulder, almost in the same motion pulling out my pistol and turning off the safety. As I began to fire shot after shot, this time managing to fire a bit more accurately, Alpi tossed me four magazines through one of the openings before immediately returning to his firing spot. I kept myself focused on my shooting, although I once again remembered that I never got an answer from Rei.

''Rei, please talk to me! How badly are you hurt?'' I asked, this time dropping the attempted calmness, never once hesitating once I got a shot between any of Their eyes. ''It's my back! It hurts so much everytime I move! I can't even stand!'' I finally heard her to answer, and I could clearly tell she was crying from it at this point. Don't get the wrong idea, in just the short time I'd known her, Rei had proved to be one of the strongest girls I'd ever met, and if this was something that was able to bring her to tears, it must've been something serious. Nevertheless, I knew instantly that if she wasn't able to move in order to defend herself, it was going to be up to me and Takashi to keep her safe until we'd find a way out of this death trap.

Not too long afterwards did I hear that same damned click come from my pistol. Slipping it back into my holster, I grabbed my rifle again, scrambling for the magazines Alpi had thrown me. Slamming the first one in and placing the barrel back through the wires, I heard Fritjof's panicked murmuring come from the Humvee as he climbed back up through the porthole. ''**Killar, Ditlev vaknar inte upp! Jag försökte allt jag kunde tänka på och den fungerar inte! Han är faktiskt började blöder! Jag vet inte vad jag ska göra, killar!**" _(S: Guys, Ditlev's not waking up! I tried everything I could think of and it's not working! He's actually started bleeding! I don't know what to do, guys!)_ he was screaming in a terrified panic, but I tried my best to ignore it as I fired into the nearest bunch of Them, for the first time managing to kill over five.

"**Det er ingenting vi kan gjøre med det nå! Vi trenger flere folk slåss! Hvor er Saeko og Takagi?**" _(N: There's nothing we can do about that now! We need more people fighting! Where are Saeko and Takagi?)_ I shouted up, never taking my eyes off the sights while blasting any one of Them I thought was even remotely close to getting any one of us. "**Takagi är att hålla ett öga på Alice, försöker hålla henne från panik och Saeko är redan ute slåss bort dem!**" _(S: Takagi is keeping an eye on Alice, trying to keep her from panicking, and Saeko's already out there fighting Them off!)_ I heard his response as I shifted my aim towards a couple stragglers that had broken off from the overall horde and were making Their way towards Takashi who had just lost some shells for his shotgun and had been scrambling after them.

"Takashi, stay down!" I shouted as I immediately started firing again and again at each and every one of Them he had been unknowingly scrambling towards. I can only just say thank goodness then of all times that I had finally gotten used to firing with my right hand, because if my aim had been like it was before, I fear Takashi could've caught a bullet in the crossfire. Then of course I had managed to kill most of Them, and then it was Alpi who took out the last ones remaining.

"**Fritjof, mitä vittua sinä teet istumaan siellä? Tarvitsemme kaikki tulivoima saamme! Miksi helvetissä et ammunta? Sinä teit sen hienosti viime yönä! Olen alkanut juosta vähissä ammuksia, joten auta minua Jumala perkele**!" _(F: Fritjof, what the fuck are you doing sitting up there? We need all the firepower we can get! Why the hell aren't you shooting? You did it just fine last night! I'm starting to run low on ammo, so help me god dammit!)_ Alpi had started to shout in undeniable anger as he kept firing round after round, and by this point, no matter how many of Them we managed to kill, it seemed like ten more would take ones place.

"**Jag...Jag kan inte göra det! Jag sköt bara på dem i går kväll eftersom vi skulle köra rakt igenom dem och komma undan! Vi kan inte komma ifrån detta! Det finns alltför många av dem!**" _(S: I...I can't do it! I only shot at Them last night cause we were going to drive right through Them and get away! We can't get away from this! There's too many of Them!)_ I then heard Fritjof begin to shout out as he started to cry, which forced Alpi to climb up the hood of the Humvee, jump up onto the roof, and to my disbelief he actually gave Fritjof a single incredibly hard punch to the face, which silenced his babbling almost instantly.

"**Hemmetti Fritjof, olit edes kuunnella sanaakaan olisin kertonut te kolme tänä aamuna? Annoin teille kaikki yksityiskohdat, mitä mahdollisesti tarvitaan aseet olet! Osaat käyttää sitä entistä paremmin nyt kuin teit niin! Joten lopeta perhanan itkeminen ja auttaa tappaa nämä paskiaiset!**" _(F: Dammit Fritjof, were you even listening to a single word I had told the three of you this morning? I gave you all the details you could possibly need for the guns you have! You know how to use it even better now than you did then! So stop your damn crying and help us kill these bastards!)_ I could barely hear Alpi yell angrily at the trembling Fritjof as I kept having to switch my aim back and forth as more and more of Them seemed to start getting closer and closer.

"Takashi, Rei can't move! I can't hold Them all off by myself! Please help me!" I shouted in both anger and fear as I kept firing at each and every head I could get within my sights, but nevertheless, more and more just seemed to keep coming to us.

"**Jag kan inte, Alpi. Det finns så många av dem, var och en vi dödar fler och fler kommer hela tiden! Jag kan inte göra det! Får du inte det? Vi kommer att dö, detta är slutet på...**" _(S: I can't, Alpi. There's so many of Them, each one we kill, more and more keep coming! I can't do it! Don't you get it? We're going to die, this is the end of the...)_ I had begun to hear Fritjof cry out once again, but at that very last moment, I saw Alpi actually grab Fritjof by the throat and pin him down to the roof. "**Jos se ei ole meidän luoteja, se on teidän itkee että piirros heitä lähemmäksi! Jos et aio auttaa meitä taistella niitä pois niin kauan kuin voimme olla pois, sitten vain tehdä meille kaikille palveluksen ja laittaa tynnyrin oman pään! Olet säälittävä!**" _(F: If it isn't our bullets, it's your crying that's drawing Them closer! If you're not gonna help us fight Them off for as long as we can hold out, then just do us all a favor and put the barrel to your own head! You're pathetic!) _

With that, Alpi finally had let go of him and jumped back down to the ground, his face noticeably grimacing in pain as he landed on his bad leg, before he ran back to his spot behind the engine and precisely picked off four that had gotten too close for comfort to Saeko from behind. By this point I had slammed in my second magazine, almost instantly opening fire on any single one of Them I could see, that burning anger finally grown to an unbearable inferno raging inside my head. The images of all I had to lose kept flashing before my eyes with every single pull of the trigger. I could see their faces clearly, covered in blood and in sheer agony. What awaited all of us if we were to lose this fight.

Rei. Takashi. Ditlev. Alpi. Fritjof. Saeko. Takagi-san. Kouhta-san. Marikawa-sensei. Alice-chan. They would all die, and if They weren't able to reach me from behind the wire, then that meant...I'd be the only one left, all alone in this new dead world. No! I would never let this happen! I wasn't going to let a single one of us fall to Them! I promised Rei we would all survive back at the house, and I was not going to let anyone or anything break that word! When I brought my sights back up to keep shooting, a strange feeling overcame me. It wasn't like what had happened only minutes ago. It was almost like I was able to focus much more clearly than before, almost as if time had slown down.

With a pull of the trigger, I didn't even feel the recoil at all. In fact, it felt like something else was guiding my arm entirely. Whatever it could've possibly been that overcame me, all I know is that my aim was suddenly a lot better, and at that time, that was all that mattered. Glancing over to Takashi as he backed up to Rei, my first assumption was that he was out of shells. "Takashi, if you need ammunition, I'll throw you my pistol. I've got enough ammo for now with my rifle." I yelled to him over the collected noise of me, Alpi, and Kouhta-san's guns. I noticed Takashi look down at Rei, and for whatever reason, what was once a worried and almost frightened look had turned into a hint of what looked like inspiration. I couldn't exactly hear what he said once he noticed me, but if I were reading his lips right at that moment, I think he said that he had an idea.

As anxious as I was to see what his new plan of action was going to be, I knew we weren't going to be able to keep fighting from where we were. We needed a way out and we needed it now. "**Alpi, trenger vi en vei ut herfra! Hullene i wire er for lite for dere å krype gjennom! Ser du noe?**" _(N: Alpi, we need a way out of here! The gaps in the wire are too small for you guys to crawl through! Do you see anything?)_ I yelled to him as he had fired off the last round he had. He never gave me an answer in words, but instead he started climbing back up to the roof of the Humvee, and a few seconds later, I heard him whistle down to me, pointing frantically at the wall lining to the right. It took me a little time to find just what he was pointing at, but when I saw it, I felt that we had both a chance, and at the same time, not a chance in hell. There was a set of stairs for the wall that led up to a different part of the block, but there was still that ever growing horde of Them standing between us and it.

Before I was able to express the details back to Alpi, I suddenly heard Takashi shout out: "Hirano! How do I work this thing?" Before I could even look to see what he was talking about, Kouhta-san instantly yelled amidst all the other gunfire: "Push the lever in front of the trigger guard! Then turn off the safety! After that, pull the operating rod handle on the right! Then you can shoot!"

Within a heartbeat, there was the sudden burst of a gun that I hadn't heard before coming from my right. Practically whipping my head to see where it came from, I finally realized what Takashi's plan was. Since his pistol only had five bullets, and his shotgun was empty, I guess he decided to improvise. He had gotten his hands on the rifle Rei had grabbed, and without even unstrapping it from her first, he had it planted right on top of her, firing round after round into whichever of Them got into his crosshairs. Unfortunately...

"I'm not hitting! I'm not hitting! Hirano, I'm not hitting anything!" he started shouting yet again, only this time I could tell the confidence he had only seconds ago was now completely gone, and for good reason. Now it seemed like no matter how many of Them went down, They kept getting closer and closer, and I had actually started feeling a sense of claustrophobia now. I had already gone through my second magazine and was halfway through the third now. "I'm empty up here! Can someone toss me something that looks like this?" kouhta-san had called down into the Humvee. I knew we were in even more serious trouble now. Kouhta-san had already proven to be more than careful with his shots, conserving ammo at every given opportunity, and if he was actually out of ammo that was immediately accessible to himself, we might as well have just called ourselves screwed right then and there, as if we weren't already.

"Let's beat 'em down! Time to kick some ass!" I heard him cry out excitedly before opening fire once again. Throughout this entire firefight, every now and again I caught a glimpse of Saeko weaving through Their tightly packed ranks, managing to take out almost a dozen at a time. She moved with such speed I couldn't have even thought was humanly possible, and once or twice I had even seen her manage to send a few of Them flying through the air, which needless to say would leave any one of us speechless.

Now I was down to my last magazine, and as I tried to pick each and every one of my shots, I heard the engine for the Humvee trying to start, but each time it would end up dying. If we couldn't even get the Humvee mobile, we wouldn't have any other choice but to cut through Them to get to the stairs. "Kouhta-san, I'm down to my last magazine! Toss me whichever Fabrique magazines you can get your hands on!" I called up to him once there was a break in his firing. Without even waiting for a sign that he even heard me, I turned my attention back to Alpi as he had just emptied the first clip for his pistol.

"**Alpi, har vi ikke noe valg av rømme, men den trappen! Tror du at du kunne være i stand til å få hendene på en av rifler og hjelpe meg klippe en vei gjennom dem?**" _(N: Alpi, we don't have any choice of escape but those stairs! Do you think you could be able to get your hands on one of the assault rifles and help me cut a way through Them?)_ I said to him just before catching a glimpse of three more magazines being tossed to me, just landing at my feet on the other side of the fence. "Those are the last Fabrique magazines, so make them count!" Kouhta-san called down to me, which I simply returned with a nod. "**Ei ongelma.**" _(F: Not a problem.)_ I heard Alpi mutter with a smirk.

As I gathered the magazines, I saw him climb into the Humvee through one of the passenger doors before coming back out with what Kouhta-san said was an AR-15 assault rifle, something mostly used by mercenaries in Southern Africa. I still can't believe it, his gun obsessions and the details that come with them are starting to rub off on me even now.

Wasting no more time, firing off a couple bursts once I was sure all the magazines were in my pockets, I sidestepped back over to Takashi and Rei, Takashi still keeping up the fire while Rei couldn't move an inch out from under his new gun. "Guys, listen. I think Alpi found a way for us to get out of here, but we'll have to abandon the Humvee." I called out once I was sure they'd be able to hear me. "What are you talking about?" Takashi asked me impatiently while continuing to shoot as if I hadn't said anything at all.

"You see that set of stairs a little ways ahead? We're going to try and cut through that mass of Them so that you all have a window of opportunity to get to it. Once it's clear, the whole lot of you will have to immediately haul ass over there while I keep you all covered the best I can. Now Rei can't move and Ditlev's unconscious, so you and someone else will have to carry the two of them on the way."

Before I was able to continue, Takashi had turned his attention back to the Humvee, forcing me to follow his gaze for a split second, and what I saw, I had honestly not expected to happen at all. Takagi-san had finally jumped out from the Humvee and grabbed Takashi's shotgun, even managing to grab the stray shells at her feet. "Takagi, what do you think you're doing?" Takashi exclaimed as she pumped the slide down with one hand like something straight out of an action film.

"Helping you all fight Them off, what does it look like? And call me by my first name from now on!" she called back to us with what was probably the most confident expression I had seen from her yet, just in time for Saeko to smash the skull of a single one of Them that had managed to nearly get the drop on her while she had wasted the time to look at us when talking. It was actually rather stomach-churning now that I think back. Saeko had stricken it so powerfully, I could hear the skull practically explode as if it were right next to me, and amidst all the gunfire and collected moans as well. The resulting head explosion had ended up nearly covering Takagi-san in what I could only be able to describe as cranial fluids, and I can only say that it was a good thing Fritjof was still huddled up on the roof, otherwise he would've most likely lost it right then and there.

Unlike back in Fujimi High, this time Takagi-san seemed to be able to just ignore this disgusting turn of events as she got the shotgun levelled with almost no effort at all, and immediately blasted the three nearest her without a sign of hesitation or fear. "I'm not a coward! How could I just die! What kind of person would just let themselves die! My house is just a little farther that way!" she had screamed as she continued to fire shot after shot, almost taking out an entire group of what must've been around twenty of Them. I figured she had managed to get her act together and could be able to handle herself like Saeko and the rest of us, so I drew my attentions back to Takashi and Rei.

"Now do you understand what I'm saying? If we can all cut a clear path through Them to those stairs, you could all be able to make your way while I cover you, but you and someone else have to take care of carrying Rei and Ditlev, alright?" I asked in a much more rushed pace as I got my rifle back up and levelled before blasting and nearly decapitating three that had almost gotten to the Humvee. "Wait, what about you, Bjarte-san?" Rei had suddenly said in what sounded like protest. "The gaps in the wires are too small for any of us to crawl through, so if we do make a run for the stairs, we'd be leaving you behind!" she went on, and as much as it pained me to have to seperate myself from the others, I knew that this was for the better, and I had to try and convince her of that while we still had any time at all on our hands.

"Rei, it's alright. I haven't seen a single one of Them on this side of the fence, so I think it should be safe. Once I'm sure you all have made it safely up those stairs, I'll head down the road behind me, and I'm sure I'll find a side street that could take me up to where you guys could be. This looks to be a pretty small and rather condensed neighborhood, so it shouldn't be too hard to meet back up with you guys." I had went on to explain to her, trying as best as I could to reassure her that even if I was to be split apart from the group, it wouldn't be long at all. To be honest though, I personally didn't believe such a chance would actually be possible knowing the luck we'd all had so far.

"No, Bjarte-san!" Rei cried angrily, forcing me and Takashi to both slightly jump in surprise at such an unexpected outburst. I had a feeling she would've still protested, but not in such an emotional manner. "You said that we would all survive as long as we all fight together! You said that we would all make it out of this city together!" she had went on, and seeing the tears rolling down her cheeks and glistening in her eyes as she reminded me of all I had said to her only hours before...it had been beginning to make my heart ache as I knew just how right she was to be angry with my only plan, now more than ever before.

"Rei..." I had started to say, but it was as if she knew what I was going to say as she cut me off. "Don't say a word, Bjarte! You said so long as we watch out for each other, we would all survive! If you think we'll leave you alone to fend for yourself, think again!" Every single word she said kept stabbing at me like a thousand knives. If she could only know how much it was hurting me to even tell them that this was what had to be done if we were to hope to live past this day. But alas, there was nothing I could do or say to dissuade her from this much-appreciated but ill-advised protest.

"We're not going to leave you! I'm not going to leave you!" I just barely heard her cry out behind the blasts of all our guns. For the longest time, I could've sworn I had just been hearing things, but in the back of my mind, I knew what I heard. I was finally at my wits end with trying to just convince her this was the best idea and I was about ready to just tell her that whether or not she or anyone else liked this idea, there was no other alternative. However, before I was able to finally get the first word out...

"I'm all out up here!" Kouhta-san exclaimed for the first time in what sounded like genuine panic as I suddenly remembered to get back to my shooting. Now the lot of us had barely any breathing room whatsoever as They were now so close, I couldn't even breathe the air without gagging from the stench of rotting flesh. "I'm all out here too!" Takashi shouted as the only gunshots that could be heard now was the very last burst of my rifle before my magazine ejected and Alpi had just fired off the last of his own assault rifle rounds. "**Paska! Se jo viimeinen AR-15 ammuksia!**" _(F: Shit! That's already the last of the AR-15 ammo!)_

Now I was officially in a complete and utter panic as I didn't even stop to think about grabbing the next magazine for my rifle; instead grabbing my pistol and slamming the second and last clip into it from my pocket before firing shot after shot at every one that caught my eye. I knew it in the pit of my stomach, we had already run ourselves nearly dry of bullets, two of us were immobile, I could even see a group of Them had managed to grab Saeko's wooden sword and pull it from her hands, and now even the shotgun Takagi-san had grabbed was officially all out. We were all officially screwed. It was the end of the line, and there was nothing any of us would be able to do to stop it.

"Alright, Alice-chan. Here we go." I then heard Kouhta-san say softly as he had pulled Alice-chan out from the porthole, getting her back on her feet while she was still clutching onto that dog. "Kouhta-chan?" I heard her ask, clearly confused. Funny, the first time I could finally be able to hear anyone clearly, and it was when I was almost certain they were all going to die, and i'd end up being left all alone out there. "You and Zeke jump over the wire together! Bjarte-oniichan will be able to take care of you." he said calmly, still trying to put on that pleasant smile he always wore whenever he was talking to her.

"But what about everyone else?" she asked, and I could already tell the tears were soon going to be on their way. "We'll all come in just a minute." Kouhta-san lied to her, and even if his tone didn't show it, I could tell it tore him apart to have to lie to her like this. I had a strong feeling in my gut that before too long the tears were going to come, and I so desperately wanted to cover my ears, not to block that out, but just so I could be able to shut all of this out, this despair, this desperation and fear, this ever-closing fear that I was about to lose those who were the most important people in the world to me. I could feel it all too clearly, and unfortunately so could Alice-chan.

"You're lying." Alice-chan yelled out in both anger and sadness as I could hear all her words echoing through my head as all our growing problems finally began to close in on my mind. "My daddy had that same face right before he died! He said he would be fine and then he died! No, no, no, no! I don't want to be alone! I don't want to lose anyone else! I want to be with all of you! I want to stay with Kouhta-chan, Takashi-oniichan, Ditlev-niichan and everyone else! I'll stay with all of you forever!" she cried hysterically.

It's widely believed that fear and despair can drive certain people to do what would otherwise be crazy things for said people. Before that day, I never fully believed that, but there were two instances that forced me to change my perspective on that forever. Everything now just seemed so grim, so pointless, enforcing the thought that we were only wasting our time trying to delay the inevitable. In those miserable moments, I truly believed it was all over; because if I was going to have to traverse this terrible world without the company of my oldest and newest friends...honestly, I would've rather accepted death.

When I had finally gotten my face out of my hand, the very first thing I did was move over to Rei and Takashi, as close as I could get with that damn barrier separating the three of us. Without even a word, I got down onto my stomach, reaching my hand through an opening, trying to reach for either of their hands as far as I could get. At this point, I believe the two of them had come to realize this was the end just as much as the rest of us, as Takashi had grabbed Rei and was holding onto her as if both their lives depended on it.

Rei was the very first to notice what I was doing, and as much as it hurt for me to have to tell her that we weren't going to survive this after all, I just couldn't handle to keep the truth from her. "Bjarte? W-what are you doing?" she asked, clearly confused and too terrified for words. My eyes stung continuously as I just couldn't hold back tears of my own anymore. "I'm sorry, Rei...I'm sorry, Takashi. I'm sorry, everyone. I guess I was wrong." I whispered as I could now just barely touch the tips of my fingers to hers. "We tried the best we could, but it wasn't enough...but if you're all going to die, I'm going with you! I couldn't handle going out there without you guys!"

By now I had gotten Takashi's attention as well, and once more it felt like time had come to a standstill as I prepared to say what could very well have been my last words to them. "In just the short time since I first came here, the two of you had become some of the best friends I could've ever asked for out here. We fought together, and we survived together. But if this is how it's going to end, with me losing not only you, but my oldest friends in the world, then I'd rather die here as well!" I'm sure the two of them had already started to try and dissuade me from this planned suicide, but all I could hear was an empty overhanging silence as I just looked from Takashi to Rei. There was something that I desperately wanted to tell her before it would all end, something that I had felt lingering in the back of my mind for what felt like the longest time that had just then exploded into something indescribable to me. As much as it would hurt me to say this in front of Takashi, I at least wanted to leave this world without any regrets. "Rei...I..."

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" a muffled voice suddenly shouted out from behind me. Every single one of us immediately looked back to see around a dozen people dressed in what looked like firefighter uniforms charging down the road towards us, carrying what looked like submachine guns in their hands. Several of them lined up at the fence and aiming their guns through the openings, they actually fired what looked like strongly compressed blasts of water. Whatever it was they were shooting, they were strong enough to send groups of over a dozen of Them flying back like bowling pins. Three of them ran up to where Takashi, Rei and I were at, and one standing in the center motioned one of his partners over to me. "Check for any who are wounded and see to them at once." I could hear the leader command behind a protective visor and a mask.

One of them ran up to me and forcefully pulled me away from the wire, albeit by my bad arm, forcing a scream out of me as he started roughly feeling at my shoulder, and I was nearly going crazy from the unbearable burning that was now soaring throughout my whole body. "This ones shoulder is dislocated. I can take care of it." he said to who was no doubt their leader as he grabbed onto my bad shoulder in a vice-like grip and then nearly forced my mouth open with his other hand before forcing a piece of plastic between my teeth. "Bite down onto this, and brace yourself." he said forcefully before he suddenly jerked his hand towards my shoulder joint, and I bit down so hard I very nearly broke several of my teeth, this pain was so intense. It was without a doubt the most painful experience I would ever have in my entire life, I very nearly blacked out from it.

"Now you'll need to give it a little time to settle back into place. In the meantime, get back on your feet. We're getting you all out of here." the mysterious man said in a strict, almost military-style commanding tone behind his mask as he forced me back onto my feet. Looking back to the fence as I slowly recollected myself from the now-dulling pain, I saw our saviors actually managing to pull the wires apart to make the openings bigger as others crawled through and started rounding us up one by one, starting with Takashi and Rei. "This way! You can thank me after you get behind the car!" the one I recognized as the leader shouted impatiently as the two of them crawled through to the other side. I still couldn't quite believe this. Just seconds ago we were on the verge of getting killed, and now out of nowhere we were actually being rescued. The only strange thing was that I didn't recognize these uniforms at all. I had seen photos of Japanese police and the SDF before, I'd even seen firefighters before, and these uniforms they were wearing didn't completely resemble any one of them.

"Hey, I've got an unconscious one here in the Humvee! Hold those monsters off while I get him through!" another one of them shouted out from inside the Humvee, almost instantaneously resulting in four others forming a protective barrier around the passenger door as I could barely make out one of the rescuers dragging Ditlev out and then slinging his unconscious body over his shoulder as he made a beeline for one of the newly made openings in the wire. Once the two were through, the four others immediately followed, and once every single one of us and them had gotten through, the ones holding the new opening followed after their partners, thankfully bringing the fence back to its normal impenetrable state. I just sighed in relief knowing They wouldn't be able to follow us anymore from here.

"You'll all be safe over here." the leader announced to us once we had all gotten back together. All I could bring myself to do was just look all around me, at all these faces, all these people I held dear to my heart that I feared I would never get to see again. Absolutely none of us were able to think of anything to say to each other. We all just took this rescue the best way each of us were able to. Alice-chan had been clutching onto Kouhta-san, nearly crying for joy and laughing happily at the same time as he weakly joined in, Takagi-san could only just collapse onto her hands and knees, no doubt completely floored at how close we all were to kicking the bucket, and Fritjof was still completely silent, although I could tell in his eyes that he was about ready to explode with laughter at how he had just cheated fate. Marikawa-sensei nearly collapsed against the wall with a heavy sigh of relief, Saeko simply bowed her head with a visibly relieved smile on her face, and to all our surprise, it was Alpi, the quietest of all of us, who was now pretty much laughing hysterically and nearly jumping all over the place, pumping his fists into the air in celebration. That was probably the liveliest and most vocal I had ever seen him get.

Me...all I could do was just quietly laugh to myself as I started to slightly move my newly fixed shoulder to make sure it was alright. It was still rather sore, but I was glad I could be able to use my better arm again now. Even afterwards, all I could do was laugh, not just at our last minute rescue, and not just at this discovery of new survivors who were organized enough to get us all out of the dead zone as quickly as possible. If anything, I laughed the most because my promise not just to Rei, but to myself that we would all survive this and see the end of it hadn't been broken after all.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. Whoever you people are, thank you for saving us!" I could hear Fritjof say repeatedly through the tears at whichever of our rescuers he could find. I would've gladly joined him in thanking those people, they deserved every last bit of it; but as I began to walk, I suddenly heard Takashi and Rei call out to me, forcing me to have to leave the 'thank you's for another time. Making my way over, I briefly noticed a couple of the strangers looking over Ditlev as they rested him against the wall, and one of them had what looked like a small first aid kit.

"I still can't fully believe it myself. I was so sure that that was going to be the end of it." was the very first thing I said once I had reunited with the two of them. I feel they shared the same sentiments, even if they may not have said it themselves. "I know what you mean. That was way too close of a call, and I'm really grateful to those people, but there's still the question as to who those people actually are." Takashi muttered quietly as I looked back to the numerous strangers who were now talking amongst themselves. "I mean, think about it. That wire fence has this side of the street completely clear of any of Them, and then those guys show up out of nowhere, and just in the nick of time as well. Don't you think it could be possible that they might be the same people who put up that barrier in the first place?"

I had to admit, Takashi was making a whole lot of sense. It just seemed too convenient that an actual emergency rescue team would be set up here of all places and be able to rescue us just in time. Something about the entire situation was now starting to feel very odd to me; these people would've wasted no time and had started moving us to a shelter if they were with the SDF. "Come on, Takashi. Does it really matter who these people are? Regardless of timing or not, they still risked their lives to save us when they could've just as easily left us to die." Rei said not so much in anger, but rather frustration.

I've always hated being caught between two sides in a confrontation, but I know when to acknowledge that I'm in such a position, and this was one of the biggest instances. While Takashi was right to hold some suspicion as to just who our rescuers were, Rei was also right that such a thought didn't matter now, as they must've been good people to go to such a length to save us. When I was ready to give my perspective on the whole thing, a thought occurred to me that I hadn't taken into consideration before, considering just where we were headed in the first place. "Wait a second. Takashi, you said that Takagi-san's home is in 2-Choome in this neighborhood, right?" When his only response was a confused nod, that officially confirmed my new suspicions.

"Do you think it could be possible Takagi-san's family might at least be involved with these people?" Once I had gotten that thought out in the open, the two of them seemed to catch on to where I was going pretty quickly. "It would at least be worth our while to go wherever they might take us. Who knows, her family might be there with other survivors." At least we had all managed to find a middle ground on what we should have done next. Wasting no more time, I quickly got Rei's right arm over my shoulders so that both Takashi and I were able to carry her to wherever we were going. At first she looked really flustered, nearly going completely red in the face, but she seemed to get used to it really quickly. Personally, I just figured I'd do whatever I could to help while the strangers were attending to everyone else.

For the next several minutes, the most the lot of us could do was wait while the strangers had gotten a ladder set up against the fence so that they could get into the Humvee through the porthole and scavenge what was left of our food, medical supplies and ammo and what few remaining guns there were. It's strange, normally after getting out of such a situation, I had thought that the lot of us would be expressing our concerns or fears of just those few minutes ago; but instead none of us were able to really say anything. I admit, it was really rather uncomfortable.

"Bjarte...before we move out again, could I be able to make something clear to you?" Takashi unexpectedly asked as I had begun to get lost in my own thoughts once again. Whatever it was he could've possibly had to make clear to me was beyond my knowledge, so all I could do was just nod in approval as he took a deep breath to prepare himself. "I get the feeling that back there when you were getting ready to let yourself get killed with the rest of us, you weren't listening at all to what either Rei or I were telling you. So now that I've got your attention, I want to say this: don't you ever do something that stupid again!"

I was honestly left speechless at this sudden expression of anger he was now giving to me as he went on, not even leaving an opportunity for me to get a word in. "You had all the opportunity to go on and survive! Instead you decided to throw your life away just so you wouldn't be alone! I hate to say this Bjarte, I really do, but there's a very good chance that somewhere along the road we won't be able to continue on all together! You may have to one day go at it on your own! The same could be said for any one of us. Each one of us have expressed how concerned and afraid we are for our families as well, and that includes you! What if they're still alive right now? Were you really going to just discard them so easily like that!"

At the mention of my family, for the first time I felt a sudden flare of anger build up in my chest as I could hear those words echoing in my head. Who the hell did he think he was to go and verbally destroy me for wanting to stick with them to the end instead of running away like a coward? And practically accusing me of throwing my family away by doing such a thing? Who the hell was he to act like he probably wouldn't have done the same thing? I knew how much he cared for all of us, how much he deeply cared for Rei, for myself, for every last one of us. If he were in my position, I'm almost certain he would've done the same thing! No matter how tough someone is, isolation and fear of losing people they care for can do devastating things to them.

"Takashi, please stop." Rei suddenly interjected before I could finally say something back to him as well. "What's done is done. Yes, it was a very stupid thing for him to do, but it's in the past now, so could we please just stop this?" she said to him in an almost pleading manner. I myself was a bit flustered for a moment that she was actually stepping forward in my defense. While I may not have appreicated that she was still basically calling me stupid for doing what I did, I still knew that her intentions for saying that were what mattered. Thankfully Takashi didn't look like he wanted this to go any further as well; I feel he had gotten out what he had meant to say. I'm sure he didn't intentionally mean to hurt me with what he said, but sometimes people can say things with the best intentions at heart and end up going too far. I remember my father was a very good example of that.

"Alright everyone, we have all the supplies gathered. We'll send another team out shortly to recover the vehicle. Let's go." the leader of the strangers announced once all the others had gotten the supplies and ammunition gathered. As everyone began to follow, I took the opportunity to speak as the leader passed by the three of us. "Excuse me, I hate to ask you this, but how does Ditlev look? The unconscious one I mean." I asked rather nervously as the leader just kept walking, forcing us to follow as well. "My men believe he may have suffered a concussion, but there's no evident signs of brain damage in his eyes when we looked. We have some doctors where we're going, and some equipment procured from the nearby hospital. They'll be able to tell us exactly what it is." the leader said bluntly without even a falter in his step. I quickly noticed that now that I had gotten a better chance to hear the leader from up close, it almost sounded like a woman beneath that mask. However, I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but I did at least want to express my gratitude while I had the chance.

"I'm sure our friend already gave you more than an earful of this earlier, but I want to thank you for saving us when we needed help the most." Suddenly, the leader stopped dead in mid-step before turning back to look us all over. "Of course."

Then the leader reached up and finally removed the firefighters' helmet, and standing before all of us was a young woman with long flowing light purple hair, who couldn't have been older than her late-thirties, and had a look to her pleasant and rather beautiful face that gave off a sense of wisdom and compassion. "I wanted to help my daughter and her friends."

This time I knew I wasn't the only one that had not seen this coming, but before I could even start thinking about processing this, Takagi-san was on her feet and running to this woman crying happily the whole way. Her mother met her in a strong embrace as Takagi-san practically leaped into her mothers arms, and now I had finally seen this girl who had always struggled to maintain a cool, calm, calculating exterior, let down her constant guard for the first time. Actually, such a now welcome sight actually brought a tear to my eye for a second. We had finally found the first of our families, and on top of that, chances were we now had shelter where we could rest and resupply before heading back out. However, at that moment, I didn't even want to think about going back out there. All I wanted was for us to finally have some real peace and quiet for even just a little while. Deep down, I was just hoping that this time, it would last.

**Alright everyone, there's chapter 9. a lot like chapter 7, I'm not one-hundred-percent satisfied with how this turned out, due to what I consider to be "not entirely thought out dialogue" but once again, it's YOUR opinion that matters, not mine. I have yet to fully read through the next few chapters of the manga, but if I'm assuming correctly, I'm getting the feeling the next few chapters of this story aren't going to have much in terms of zombie violence, as much as they are going to be about character development, which let's be honest, is much more important, especially to me. So you all know how the process goes: read, review, recommend, and I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it.**


	10. Kapitel Tio: Ge Oss Fristad Del En

******Alright everybody, after over a month and a half of getting this bastard ready, it's finally finished. Now, a lot like chapter 7 and 9, I'm not completely satisfied with how this turned out, but it still turned out better than I initially was expecting. For those of you that find any kind of problems with this chapter, I would like to take this time to remind you all that I am not all that experienced with writing filler. It's potentially new ground for me, but hopefully this will be the kind of experience that can help make me better at it. You've all come to know the drill by now, read, leave reviews, and recommend to our foreign brothers and friends. Chapter 11 will be much easier and less time-consuming to get out there to you all, so you won't have to worry about that. School had a lot to do with this chapter taking so long as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**  


**Hello again everybody. Well now we're officially in a part of the story that should actually be considered more important than just mindless action: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TIME! I'm just gone get this out in the open now: for the next couple chapters of this story, don't be expecting a whole lot of action. But don't worry, it will pick back up before too long. However, my fellow readers and authors, don't forget: Developing the plot and the characters within that plot is the true essence of storytelling! In the meantime, read, review, recommend, and enjoy. **

**UPDATE: 4/22/2011: I apologize for having gone over a month without updating this. I should have you all know, I am not experienced in writing filler. Up until this point, I still had plotlines to help me, but not this time. That is why I'll also apologize in advance if parts of this chapter come across as poorly thought out to you. Anyway, enjoy. I don't own HOTD, that belongs to the Sato Brothers. All I own is this story.**

**UPDATE: 4/26/2011: After over a month of trying to write this chapter, I've decided to make this a two-parter. I've basically come up with the idea that if the events of a chapter go beyond the span of one day, those chapters will be divided into two parts. I hope you will all still be able to enjoy what is to come in the future now that this guideline has been set for future chapters.**

**Kapitel Tio: Ge Oss Fristad Del En **_(S: Chapter Ten: Give Us Sanctuary Part One)_

**Otroligt**. _(S: Unbelievable) _That's the only possible way I could begin to describe just where Takagi-san's mother and her men had taken us. Standing at the very top of the hill this entire neighborhood had been built around, there stood a mansion-like complex the likes of which I had never seen or heard of before. The sheer size of the entire place left me completely winded as we all took in what was to be our new temporary surroundings, even Alpi had been left completely dumbfounded, but you never would've noticed either way since he rarely ever spoke at all to begin with.

All around us, the sheer organization that stood behind those electric gates was almost impossible for me to take in so quickly. All around us, there were men in uniform bustling about with large supply trucks and buses dotting the area. To the left there were multiple tents in the yards with people dressed in civilian clothes running about, and to the right there were more uniformed men running back and forth from the vehicles to the mansion carrying massive boxes filled with who-knows-what, none of them paying any of us any mind at all. Either way, after having gone so long without finding any other survivors, this was quite a spectacle to be seen.

"This is incredible." I heard Bjarte say breathlessly as we heard the gate come to a close behind us. "When did you get all of this set up? It hasn't even been three days since everything fell apart." he went on looking absolutely everywhere in amazement, almost like a small child who had just walked into the worlds greatest candy store. "Once everything had started, it didn't take long for a lot of these people to find their way to us. My husband and his organization are rather well known in this city, and it took almost no time before we all began to set up this shelter and send search parties for any other survivors. Once we had rescued all the people in this neighborhood that were still alive and uninfected, we also began to send recovery teams to retrieve any food or medical supplies, or any other equipment we may need for the times to come." Takagi-san's mother had begun to explain as she started to show us around the grounds.

Before she continued, she immediately turned her attention to the two of her men that were carrying Ditlev on a single stretcher they had brought with them when they rescued us. "You two, bring that boy to the doctors' tent at once." she commanded, and both men bowed down to her and were immediately on their way as if on a queue. "The rest of you, round up some of the mechanics and help them bring that Humvee back to us." she went on almost immediately as she turned her attention to the rest of her men that had come with us. They too simply bowed and went to wherever they were told without a single sign of hesitation. Once they had all gone, she turned her attention back to us, smiling softly. "The rest of you, walk with me for a minute. There are some things that I need to see to around here, but in the meantime I'll give you a quick look around the compound so as you don't get lost during your time here. Also, I'm sure some of you may be confused and have some questions that may need answering." she had gone on to explain to us as she began to make her way towards the mansion itself, with the lot of us keeping pace behind her.

Switching my gaze from the rather amazing leader of our rescuers, to the entire camp of civilian tents and then back, it gave me something to wonder about, which I unfortunately couldn't keep to myself. "To have a mansion and a compound of this kind of size and overall grandeur...how exactly were you able to get your hands on this place?"

In the short time I waited for her to give me an answer, I caught a glimpse of Takagi-san, and the look she was giving me seemed like both a threat and a warning, almost as if to say I was now treading on ground I wasn't welcome on. "Well, some of it came as a result of financial offerings from my husbands' supporters, but mostly from some of my past experiences working on Wall Street." she answered quite modestly, and with the exception of Takagi-san herself and Alpi, the rest of us were rather surprised.

I know it's not much of a big deal nowadays in the world we now live in, but when I was younger, my mother would always go on about her desire to one day work in what was considered the home of the modern stock market world; or have me go into it myself in her place, and I never would've guessed that I would meet someone who came from it in such unexpected circumstances.

As much as I wanted to respect Takagi-san's advice and just leave my questions at that, there was just one more thing that had been bugging me for the last several minutes after I had finally taken notice of it: all those men in matching uniforms who acted on her every command without a moments hesitation. I had also noticed their uniforms all bore the Japanese flag and some characters I had never seen before, and the same was for all their buses as well. "I hope you'll forgive all these questions, but I'm a little curious as to who all these men are."

Again, she took my question without any sign of offense and was rather casual with her answers. I was glad we were at least dealing with someone who didn't think herself better than others due to immense wealth. "Those men are all my husbands' supporters." Now that that had been cleared up, there was only one more thing left to know. "What exactly did your husband do back when things were still...normal?" By this point, Takagi-san was just looking at me with either utmost loathing, or sheer anger that I was ignoring her warnings and most likely digging a grave for myself. At least, that's what I assumed she was trying to convey at all. I was never good at reading people, especially girls, and something was now telling me I would soon come to regret it.

"He's one of the leaders of a political organization." she replied in a surprisingly straightforward way, but the way she said it almost sounded like she was saying that that was all I needed to know. By now I had figured that if even she wasn't willing to go into any further detail on the subject, now it was time to just leave it. "The majority of the civilians we've rescued have all been sheltering together in those tents you've no doubt noticed by now. It's also where we ration whatever food we're able to find, and as I've mentioned already, where we have our doctors treat our wounded. Unfortunately, the only injuries anyone gets anymore are bites, and we already know too well that there's nothing you can do for that." she went on to explain as she pointed out the massive campsite for those of us that hadn't noticed it yet already. "As for said civilians, normally we would give them shelter in our home itself, but with the ever-present danger of all the cities public services, such as electricity and fresh water being shut down, we've had to use most of the house as a 'base of operations' of sorts. We need to keep up communication with any remaining law enforcement or rescue teams across the nation for as long as possible."

At the mention of a possibility to communicate with law enforcement, I suddenly felt a spark of hope as we made our way into the mansion itself. "I'm sorry for all these questions I've been asking, but I just can't help but ask: does anyone have any idea how things are going throughout the rest of the world? Has anyone you've been able to contact got any access to that kind of information?" As I asked her this, I had tried as hard as I could to keep myself composed, but as I had begun to think of just how close we could've been to finding out how our families possibly were, I had begun to let my desperation show.

"You're afraid for your own families. You don't need to apologize for that." she said softly as she led us up the stairs. "I'm sorry to say that none of the people we've been in contact with have access to any such information. The only details we have in regards to the rest of the world is what you've no doubt heard on the news, before they fled the country." I could only answer with a disappointed sigh as we had begun to make our way down an empty hall lined with doors and windows that overlooked what was one of the most beautiful looking gardens I could've ever imagined. I was still consumed with that damned familiar grief, but I was desperate for anything to take my mind off of it, even just a little bit.

"Excuse me, I apologize if I sound ungrateful by asking you this, but if all the people you rescue stay in that camp out there, why exactly are you showing us around this place rather than the compound itself?" Bjarte asked confusedly as he poked his head into one of the doors for a second. Takagi-san's mother remained silent for a few seconds before she began to make her way down the hall once more. "You all protected my daughter in the time that has passed since this all started. I feel the best way I can be able to express my gratitude at this time is to provide you with what little shelter there is to provide in this house."

I'll admit, when I first heard that, the idea of finally sleeping in a real bed for the first time in days sounded like a godsend, and almost everyone else seemed to share at least some of my sentiments, but what caught my eye more was Takagi-san's glare directed towards her mother. Something about it...really didn't seem right to me. It seemed less like gratitude and more like...anger. What she could've possibly had to be angry about was beyond me, but I felt things were going just a little too well for us at that time to just bring it up and ruin everything. I wanted to try and make this last as long as possible.

It had taken almost an hour until we had finally made our way throughout most of the compound and the mansion itself. Along the way, we had learned that Takagi-san's father had taken a large number of their men with him out into the city on a major supply run, and wasn't expected to return until tomorrow. As much as I had come to fear that going into what I wanted to call 'the dead zone' was pure suicide, I really didn't want to cause any more worry amongst my friends than I was sure there might've already been.

By the time it had come to an end and we were back at the door to the mansion, she had also taken care to tell us that there was a serious lack of spare room due to all the survivors and workers and their equipment, and that we were to share whichever rooms we would take for ourselves. By this point, I for one couldn't have cared less, and if anyone actually did have a problem with that, then it was their loss. "I wish there was more time so I could help answer any other questions you all might have and show you around a bit more, but there's important things that need to be done that require my attention, but I trust you're all familiar enough with the overall layout of the compound by now so as you won't get lost." was what she had officially ended our unofficial tour with as she had begun to make her way past us out to the bustling numbers of her men who had been unloading massive boxes of who-knows-what from a line of trucks.

I have to say, every time she said anything to us, this woman amazed me more and more. She had the unquestionable presence and the air of a natural leader, someone who would take charge even in the most desperate situations and make even the toughest men tremble in fear. Yet, at the same time, whenever she spoke, the look in her eyes that accompanied also gave off a natural loving and maternal edge to the mix as well.

As she passed us, I caught wind of Alpi whispering to Bjarte: "**Hei Bjarte, luuletko että hän voisi tietää, jos tämä paikka on baari?**" _(F: Hey Bjarte, do you think she might know if this place has a bar?) _Just as I was ready to give him an earful for asking such an inappropriate question at such a time as this, I suddenly heard Takagi-san's mother speak for me. "**Ja mitä ihmeessä joku ikä on baari?**" _(F: And what on Earth would someone your age need a bar for?)_

I'll tell you this right now, when I had suddenly heard Takagi-san's mother speak nearly flawless Finnish right the hell out of nowhere like that, I nearly felt like I had gone deaf and my mind was playing tricks on me, and the rest of us were pretty much the same, especially Alpi. Can't blame him, he probably never would've dreamt he'd find a fellow Finnish-speaker in Japan of all places, and for a second, he looked like he had been slapped across the face by his own mother; but while the rest of us could only look on in surprise, he had managed to get his composure back rather quickly.

"**No, ajattelin, että jos mitään noista asioista siellä oli hyökätä tänne, tai kun aika tulee, että meidän täytyy mennä sinne uudestaan , tunsin joitakin Molotovin cocktaileja ei satu olla valmiina.**" _(F: Well, I figured that if any of those things out there were to attack this place, or when the time comes that we have to go out there again, I felt some Molotov cocktails wouldn't hurt to have at the ready.) _he explained himself, sounding unusually nervous under the stern eye of this woman that was just full of surprises. She just looked down at him with a look of suspicion before she gave him an answer. "**Vaikka teidän syy järkevää, olemme jo toteuttaneet tällaisen suunnitelman huomioon ja käytetty mitä alkoholi oli tässä yhdiste tehdä tasainen tarjonta olisi tällainen tilanne koskaan syntyä.**" _(F: While your reason makes sense, we have already taken such a plan into consideration and used up whatever alcohol there was in this compound to make a steady supply should such a situation ever arise.) _she said with as much of a serious edge as was needed to make Alpi know that the answer was 'no' and that was the end of discussion.

Without wasting even another second, she turned back to her men and went off without a word, leaving the lot of us on our own. It was then at that moment that we realized that we had absolutely on idea what we were to do next. Up until this point, we had always had at least a vague idea of where to go or what to do, but now we were left in the dark.

_aaa_

Finally finding us within the walls of our first real shelter, I must say I had felt absolutely ecstatic. For the first time in nearly three days, we would finally be able to let our guard down and not have to pay any kind of consequences for it. I was aware that we would eventually have to go back out there to check on everyone else's families, and even then, we weren't going anywhere until Ditlev would recover; but all the same, there was a brief time at the start that I would never want to leave this place. Takagi-san's mother had proven both a confident and capable leader, while also presenting herself in a way that wouldn't unnecessarily intimidate the wrong people. Honestly, I had felt no downside to this whole thing.

Yet, something interesting to point out was that around the time we had gotten to the only remaining hall in the mansion that had any free rooms for us, I had caught the faintest glimpse of something through the windows that viewed the gardens. It was just out of the corner of my eye, so chances are just as good that I was just imagining things, yet something inside me told me that there was something of great interest out there, and that this wouldn't be the last time I'd come across it.

As we had been left to our own devices at the entrance to the mansion, Rei had started to groan in pain, catching me and Takashi's attention instantly. It didn't take very much time for both of us to realize just what it was, and we began to make our way back inside. "Guys, we're going to see to Rei, so...just do whatever you think you can do around here, alright?" I said to the others in exasperation before the doors shut behind us. Deep down inside, I was reeling over the fact that Rei had gotten injured and there was nothing the rest of us could be able to do about it. However, even moreso than her, I was also extremely worried about Ditlev. I had then decided that once I was convinced that Rei didn't need any of our help, I would check on him to see if any of the doctors in this place had any idea how he was.

We went for the very first door in the hallway that had our offered rooms, and making sure that we were both on the same page, and not doing anything to make her pain any worse, we both laid her down on her stomach on the one bed this room had to offer. I then made sure to get rid of any unnecessary weight from her no-doubt suffering back as I undid the strap that kept her rifle attached to her, carefully placing it against the wall, within her arms reach should she have ever needed it.

Looking down at her as she was clearly trying her best to ignore her pain, I glanced up to Takashi as he kept looking over her, clear and undeniable worry written in his eyes. "Well, I'm not a doctor, but I don't think I even need to be to say that she's been putting a lot of strain on her back for a while now, and unfortunately, neither of us have been helping a lot with preventing that. I'm going to get some ice, and afterwards, you should probably keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't try to leave. She needs to stay in bed for a while." I explained to him as we both took special care in removing the protective elbow pads and kneepads she had been wearing.

After I had left the two of them, I made a beeline down the stairs and through the door, and then right back into the camp for all the other survivors. There were tons of people bustling about, so it had taken me a while to find the medical tent, thankfully marked with a red cross on the side. Getting inside, I revealed several rows of beds that were all nearly empty save for a couple people, and Ditlev of course. Looking at these people, I could see that their injuries were usually a broken limb or some kind of head injury. Thinking back onto what Takagi-san's mother had said earlier about them now knowing all-too-well the futility of treating people who had been bitten, it gave me goosebumps. Just that very thought of knowing your entire life as well as your probability of survival were officially nil once one of Them got Their teeth into you.

"_Excuse me young man, you can't be in here. This tent is for doctors and official compound workers only._" one of the doctors had suddenly yelled at me angrily in what I could only assume was English; not that I could've blamed him for thinking I spoke it as I was the only white European here. As another doctor had grabbed my arm and was starting to drag me out, I had managed to get a word out to them. "I'm just here to get some ice for another friend of mine with a hurt back. That's it!" Once I had spoken, everyone stopped, and after whispering amongst themselves for a little bit, they gave a single nod, and the one who had me in his grip let go and soon came back, dropping a bag of ice in my arms. "I apologize if I came across as too aggressive, but in the beginning when we had everything set up, we had been getting people with bites, and their hysterical loved ones constantly barging in to try and force us to try and save them, despite the overall futility of such actions. I hope you understand that we are trying to take precautions against such madness ever happening again." the doctor who was apparently their leader explained to me in a much calmer voice. Not knowing what really to say to them, all I could give them was a single understanding nod before I made my way back out.

Without another word, I made my way back into the mansion and I was on my way back up the stairs. Once I was back in the room, pulling a seat up next to the bed, I took a deep breath in for what was to come next. "Alright, now here's what we have to do. Rei, we're going to use this ice to try and at least numb the pain. Unfortunately, we have to apply direct contact, so..." I swallowed the lump in my throat as I braced myself for whatever reaction she or Takashi were going to have. "We're going to have to lose the shirt. Once we get that out of the way, we'll just have to keep applying it to all parts of your back for the next few hours. Afterwards, you won't feel a thing for quite a while."

While it wasn't the fullest extent of the reaction like I was expecting, she at least reacted in a way I was expecting. She looked very apprehensive of the idea of having to nearly strip in order for us to do this, yet she didn't say anything to adress it. Takashi himself looked rather embarrassed, or perhaps it was nervous, I'm not entirely sure. All I know for certain was that I was as embarrassed as the both of them were. At the start of this day, I obviously never would've guessed I'd be acting like an amateur surrogate doctor for anybody. Had I been thinking clearly, I would've done what the others no doubt would have, and just get Marikawa-sensei to take care of it herself.

It took the two of us a little time to fully prepare ourselves for this, but once we were ready, it was thankfully over in a matter of seconds and we had gotten her shirt unbuttoned and discarded. Fortunately she didn't react like most teenage girls normally would and completely freak out at being so exposed in front of us, though I'm sure she was damn close to doing so. "Now because your back is so sensitive right now, the cold will sting for barely a minute, then it'll be fine, so I suggest you just take a deep breath and relax." I said in my best attempt to be soothing as we both got it situated right above the center of her back. Thankfully the whole process had gone much smoother and faster than I had been expecting, and it was over as quickly as it had started. She had started whimpering at the start, no doubt from the previously mentioned biting cold, but she was soon quiet and was breathing calmly now. Now all that was needed was to wait. Or at least that's all Takashi needed to do now.

"Listen, Takashi, I'm going to go to the medical tent to check and see how Ditlev is doing. Could you be able to keep an eye on Rei for a while?" I asked as I made my way for the door. "Well, there isn't really much else for any of us to do now, so sure." I heard him say as I shut the door behind me. As I made my way through the compound for the camp again, I was suddenly stopped by a couple of the compound guards. "Can I help you, gentlemen?" I asked nervously under the piercing glare of these men who all looked like they would've been more fitting in a military setting rather than something like this.

"Our leader, Takagi-sama, may have neglected to inform you and your friends of this, but I must ask that you relinquish your weapons to us." the man in center stated in a fierce, humorless tone as the other two simultaneously threw their arms out, as if gesturing me to just fork my guns to them on the spot. As much as I really didn't want to get into a conflict with these guys, I was understandably apprehensive to this. "With all due respect, why exactly do we have to give you our weapons?"

"It's by order of Takagi-sama. All the people we rescue from outside the fences, if they have weapons, we need to confiscate them. Think of it as your way of contributing to the survival of all the people here." he answered me, never once betraying the strict commanding tone he had been carrying with me. As much as I felt his explanation was full of holes and needed a much better reason, I still didn't feel like raising the chances of us all getting into trouble with the guards. For that time, I felt it would just be best to do as I was asked, and think of a way to get around it later. So without another word, I removed my rifle, my pistol, and my wrench and handed one to each of them. Once I had shown them I had nothing else with me, the three of them made their way back to the mansion without even a small grateful bow.

As I continued my way through the camp to the medical tent, I kept thinking about what had just happened. While I may have been perfectly content with giving them my weapons for the time being, I wasn't as sure about the others. Alpi would sooner die than let anyone else touch his beloved rifle, and Kouhta-san wouldn't be much different. The others might have been different, but I wasn't willing to leave those odds to chance. As I was about to enter through the front, I was suddenly met with an exhausted looking Fritjof walking out and nearly running into me.

"Oh, Bjarte. Sorry about that." he quickly started apologizing with an embarassed smile, forcing me to just brush it off with a sleight of the hand. He always got like this when he'd accidentally get in someone else's way. That was one of the downsides to him being so formal, he always felt inclined to go out of his way to apologize to anyone and everyone. I personally didn't mind it, but it always drove Alpi nuts. "It's okay, man. I was just going to check on Ditlev and see what the doctors have found out." I explained to him with a half-hearted smirk as we both sat on the grass against the side of the tent.

"Yeah, I was doing the same thing." he replied with a weak attempt at a chuckle before he slowly bowed his head down. "It's now of all times...I can't help but just look back on all those times I called him a stupid child. I was always going on about how hopeless he would be when out on his own." By this point, Fritjof had started to weep, keeping mostly to himself, and yet through all the noise that had come from all the natural hustle and bustle, to me, it sounded out as clear as day. "In all the time we've gone out there, having to fight Them, if anything...Ditlev has proven to be the most collected of the rest of us, and I was the one acting like a terrified child. When he wakes up from that coma...if he wakes up, the very first thing I'm doing is apologizing for all those insults."

There was nothing I was able to say to him that I don't think he already knew. I was just as worried for Ditlev as he was, and while I wasn't showing it, when Fritjof had brought up the idea of whether or not he would ever wake up to begin with, I was crying inside. For all the years I had ever known Ditlev, he had been like the brother that I never had, and if he were to never make it out of this nightmare, it would feel like something irreplaceable had been torn right out of me. I waited as long as I felt I needed to for Fritjof to recompose himself, and that's when I decided to give him the heads up I had been wanting to give everyone when I would get the chance.

"Listen Fritjof, before I got here, some of the guards here told me that they had to confiscate all our weapons, calling it a contribution to survival. I already gave them mine, but I want you to tell the others when you find them. Tell them they need to hide the rest of our weapons somewhere safe, somewhere the guards won't find them, alright?"

Fritjof looked up at me confusedly as he got back onto his feet. "I don't really see what the big deal is, Bjarte. They're only confiscating our weapons, it's not like they're just going to flat out take them." I could see where he was coming from with this argument, but that didn't ease my mind any further. "Fritjof, I really don't want to argue about this. I'm sure that when the time comes that we have to go back out there, they'll just give us back our weapons, but I still don't entirely trust the people here. Just do what I'm asking you to, and tell everyone to hide whichever of their weapons they still have somewhere safe."

Fritjof still just looked at me with a hint of confusion, but just when I thought he was going to argue with me further, he just sighed and began to continue on his way past me. "Fine, I'll tell whoever I find, but I still think you might be looking a little too much into this." I never responded to his closing words, I just kept telling myself that he was wrong, and that I wouldn't come to regret taking this precautionary step. I finally stepped back into the medical tent, and nothing seemed to be different this time. The doctors didn't take notice of me, so I felt it was alright for me to make my presence known. "So, does anyone have any idea how Ditlev is doing? Any idea what's wrong with him?" I asked loudly in order to get their attention as I began to approach our unconscious Dane.

"Well, we did whatever we could with what little equipment we were able to help procure from the hospital, but we feel we have a good idea of just what's wrong with your friend." The oldest doctor answered as he signaled for the other doctors to attend to any of the other injured, and then once they were gone, he motioned for me to come with him to a few large computers that had been set up on the opposite end of the tent. I didn't recognize every single one, but I did notice a simple looking X-Ray. The doctor made his way to the X-Ray as he grabbed a few photos from a nearby table, clipping them to one of those lights used for seeing X-Ray photos. Such a sketchy description is the result of my never paying attention in any health classes back in school. For that, I apologize. 

"First, we decided to go with an X-Ray to see if there was any sign of skull fracture or brain damage. On the first few shots we hadn't found anything worthy of concern. At one point we found what looked to be a hair line fracture, but upon physical inspection, it isn't any recent injury, but more of a scar from something past." That had honestly caught me off guard when he first mentioned it. I had never once heard of Ditlev getting any kind of head injury like that. However, it did bring to mind a time when we were younger when his mother had told me that he and his father were staying with some other relatives in Poland for a few months. Perhaps that had been a cover-up for when this had happened. Before I was able to dwell on this any further, I realized the doctor hadn't yet finished, so I brought all my attention back to him, desperate for more details. "It was a rather complicated process to figure this out without an MRI at our disposal, but there didn't appear to be any form of swelling or hemorrhaging, or even any internal bleeding inside his skull." So far, I had liked what the doctor was telling me, yet it still didn't completely answer as to why he was unconscious for so long to begin with. 

"Well, that's really good to hear, doctor, but that still doesn't explain why he's been unconscious for so long." I stated as we both made our way to Ditlev's bedside. "Well, as bizarre as it may seem considering all the possibilities, your friends' only cause for unconsciousness was simply the violent impact he sustained in that Humvee of yours that the guards had just recently brought back into the compound." As the doctor explained this, he cleared away a few locks of Ditlev's hair, to reveal a set of bandages that were wrapped around his forehead. "The extent of his injuries was a rather large laceration across his forehead. We were able to disinfect the wound, clean it and get it closed up in order to stop the bleeding. While his injuries may have been treated, it is going to leave a rather noticeable scar, although considering the way things are nowadays, that will be the least of his worries." He had finished with a weak chuckle in an attempt to lighten up the mood. When he had realized that I wasn't laughing, he decided to give me the reassurance I had been looking for. 

"Either way, there aren't any signs of brain damage or skull damage, permanent or otherwise. I must say, your friend got extremely lucky. The chances of sustaining such relatively minor damage in a full impact to the skull are almost literally a million-to-one. Now, I can't guarantee to you when he will regain consciousness. It could be in the next few hours, or it could be in the next few days. All you need to know is that in regards as to how he could have turned out, he'll be just fine in the end." 

There were literally no words that I could have used to express my gratitude to the doctor for giving me this peace of mind. All I could do was just shake his hand, give him a modest 'thank you', and make my way out so that I could leave them back to whatever business they could've had. Stepping out into the cool afternoon air, it felt like an unbearable weight had been lifted from my shoulders, and suddenly everything felt good for the first time. I was definitely going to tell Fritjof the next time I'd see him. He would definitely need the good news now that he had felt so overcome with guilt for the past. 

Yet, I myself felt then that I needed some time to truly relax and take in the actual peace that I now had. For the first time, I was actually safe from any threat of Them, and damn it all, I was going to cherish every second of it. Looking around, I couldn't find a sign of any of my friends around, but I was sure I'd come across someone sooner or later. In the meantime, I felt that I could take a little look around the entirety of the compound, and get a much better feel for the place. 

_aaa_

Treasures, each and every last one of them. I was standing amidst what was possibly the single largest collection of books I had ever come across. I had decided to look around the rest of the mansion after my run-in with Bjarte at the camp, and the majority of what I had beheld was places teeming with guards who had been busying themselves with organizing boxes of who-knows-what. I kept thinking back to what Bjarte had warned me about with these guys, and so far, I was pretty sure none of them had noticed me yet. Luckily, I didn't have my submachine gun with me. I had accidentally left that in the Humvee, but I still had my sidearm on me, hidden in my pocket beneath the hem of my shirt. I felt that it would be safely out of their line of sight so long as I didn't tuck my shirt in, which I never did before to begin with. 

Now…now I was standing in a true treasure vault of knowledge and imagination. The very first thought that had occurred to me when I saw this place, was that if the rest of the world was really going to go to hell from now on, this would be one of the very last libraries left standing, and I was now intending to cherish every instant I could get to browse through whatever was here. I swear, if you had seen this place like I had, you too would've thought that this library held every piece of literature and text of every form that had ever been written since the founding of the modern language. At that time, I had felt like a small child at Christmas morning that had just gotten more presents than anyone in the household…and it felt good. 

_Treasure Island, David Copperfield, War & Peace, Moby Dick, The Old Man at Sea, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Decameron_, and so on and so on. Every classic novel and essay dating back to the Renaissance was now finally within reach of my fingertips. There was nobody else in this entire room with me, I was alone, I was safe, it was silent and peaceful in here…I was in my own little piece of paradise. If there had only been a computer in here as well, I never would've wanted to leave. 

Just as I was about to pull out a copy of _A Tale of Two Cities_, I suddenly caught the faint sound of someone struggling from behind me. Turning on my heels, I was surprised to see Alpi was making his way past the open entrance with one of the duffle bags from the Humvee slung over his shoulder, a look of strain turning his face red. I decided that I needed to see just what was going on and that I would come back to this literary goldmine later. Following after him, I looked around to make sure there weren't any guards around, as Alpi still had that old rifle slung over his back for all to see. 

"**Alpi, vad fan gör du?**" _(S: Alpi, what the hell are you doing?)_ I asked him once he had stopped to apparently catch his breath. For once, he actually didn't jump and have his rifle aimed at my head when I had come up to him from behind. He just looked at me and continued to walk. I was about to ask again, when I could just barely make out the sound of glass gently hitting against glass coming from inside the duffle bag. I then remembered when he had been asking about a bar earlier, and it all then occurred to me just what he was doing. 

"**Alpi, har du stjäla molotovcocktails Takagi-sans mamma sa att de hade lagrade?**" _(S: Alpi, did you steal the Molotov cocktails Takagi-san's mother said they had stockpiled?)_ I asked in an angry whisper as he continued on as if he hadn't heard a word I said. 

"**No olen etsinyt noin yhdiste aikaa, ja törmäsin alkoholi ei ollut koskettanut. Näyttää sinun oli pitää kiinni näistä varten erityinen tilaisuus tai jotain. Joko niin, nappasin tämän duffeli laukku Humvee kun he toivat sen, ja otan tämän jemma turvallisessa paikassa. Kun on pimeää, minä aion palata niihin ja tehdä niin monta Molotovin kuin pystyn.**" _(F: No. I've been looking around the compound for a while now, and I came across the alcohol that hadn't been touched. Looks like thy were holding onto these for a special occasion or something. Either way, I grabbed this duffle bag from the Humvee when they brought it in, and I'm taking this stash somewhere safe. When it's dark, I'm going to come back for them and make as many Molotov's as I can.)_ he whispered back to me, his words laced with clear and undeniable impatience as he turned a corner that led to a darkened hall that had only a single door at the end.  
As much as I feared that Alpi's little plan would be discovered by one of the guards, I couldn't argue that this was a good idea in theory. It then reminded me of the warning I needed to give him. "**Alpi, lyssna på mig en stund. Jag sprang in Bjarte en liten stund sedan, och heme att vakterna här är ute efter att konfiskera våra vapen och lagra dem också. Nu kanske han bara agerar paranoid eller inte, kanske jag är genom att tro honom, men jag tror att när du dölja dessa flaskor, bör du dölja ditt gevär och sideam också, bara för att vara säker.**" _(S: Alpi, listen to me for a minute. I ran into Bjarte a little while ago, and he told me that the guards here are looking to confiscate our weapons and stockpile those as well. Now maybe he's just acting paranoid or not, maybe I am by believing him, but I think that when you hide those bottles, you should hide your rifle and sideam as well, just to be safe.) _

Alpi never gave me an acknowledgement that he understood what I was trying to tell him. He just stopped in his tracks for a few seconds with his back turned to me, and then he started to continue on his way, pushing the door ahead of him open. This time, I didn't even bother to follow after him. Just before the door had shut, I swear I could've heard him mutter a kiitos (F: thanks) to me. Whether or not he would actually take my warning into consideration and try to tell the others, I didn't know. I just went back the way I came back to that library, constantly thinking about whether or not we had a reason to worry about the people here or not. I kept wanting to convince myself that I didn't care, but deep down, I did...and I felt that in some way, Bjarte was right to worry. 

_aaa_

I didn't know whether to believe Fritjof or not. Were the guards here really looking to take away the guns we had fought so hard to obtain? Our sole means of survival out there? I didn't know, and like Fritjof had confessed, he himself didn't know for certain either. If this hadn't been a case of ensuring our own survival, this wouldn't have bothered me as much. Yet, that wasn't the case anymore. If they intended to take my birthright away from me, it would be after they'd pry it from my cold dead fingers. My father had passed that gun down to me when my big brother refused to take it himself, and **perkele **_(F: dammit)_, I was going to keep it by my side at all times no matter what, especially in the world we now lived in.

Thinking back to my family, I had to stop for a minute to wipe those accursed tears from my eyes once more. I was getting so sick and tired of never getting any closer to knowing how my homeland was doing during all of this. I felt that if things kept repeating like this: getting my hopes up only for them to be dashed away without any mercy, I felt I was going to fucking lose it before this was all over. If only somebody had any online connection with anybody in Finland, or a satellite phone at the very least, that would put my mind at ease, at least for just a little while.

No, no, there wasn't any time for me to dwell on that now, I knew that much. I needed to focus on getting these bottles out of sight before anyone would catch me that I didn't want to. Thankfully I was near my secret hiding spot. I would just need to get the bag and my guns hidden, and then it would be over just like that. At least it would be over until later that night, and I would need as much time as possible. Not only would I need to make sure nobody would be coming in to surprise me at all, but I'd also need to make sure the Molotovs I'd make would actually work right. Perhaps I could use the sheets from one of those spare bedrooms upstairs to substitute for rags. I'd also need to get my hands on some matches or a lighter in case we'd have to use all of these on short notice. There were so many details for me to take into consideration.

Now, me being a Finn and listening to tales of the exploits of my great grandfather back in the Winter War, I don't suppose it would surprise you to know that I take our innovation in warfare quite seriously. My father and my grandfather would always go on about how one day the Russians would come to reclaim our land one day. Of course it's now that I realize they would always go on like this when drunk, but in the past, I would hang on each and every word. It's because of their rantings that I had so much practice with that old rifle in the first place, and took so much interest in all different forms of firearms. It's also how I had learned from my father how to make Molotov's.

Thankfully, the alcohol I had managed to grab was all definitely flammable. Whiskey and vodka mostly, but they would definitely be enough. Now I was slowly pushing open a door that thankfully led out to where I had been hoping it would: the garage. The Humvee was the very first thing I had noticed, and luckily nobody was around at the moment, and the garage doors had all been closed down. I took extreme care to walk lightly, just in case any mechanics were still there and I just couldn't see them. Gently shutting the one door to this place behind me, I was practically walking on my heels to avoid making any noise while having this really heavy bag slung over my shoulders, plus the added strain to my legs wasn't making my stitches feel any better either.

Almost no time at all and I was already with my back against the side of the Humvee, no sound but my own heavily beating heart, and the muffled sounds of the outside just behind those garage doors. No footsteps, so for all I knew, I was still in the clear. I looked through the windows, and it looked like the guards had already cleared out the rest of the duffle bags. What little had been left of the ammunition, all our food and water and whatever remaining weapons. While I was glad that Fritjof and I, and possibly a few of the others, still had our own weapons with us, it also occurred to me that the guards were aware we still had our weapons, and if they suddenly found us without them, it wouldn't be long till some kind of suspicion would be raised about us hiding them. **Perkele**, I can't believe neither me or Fritjof hadn't taken that into consideration before.

Well, there wasn't anything any of us could do about it now. All I could do was just hide them where I was gonna hide them and take it from there. Getting the door open, I slid the duffle bag, my rifle, and my pistol and holster underneath the rear passenger seats. I remembered once reading the military-class Humvees had empty spaces underneath the rear seats in order to store extra cases of ammunition. Well, it was the best spot I could've picked on such short notice. Once I had the door closed and made sure nobody was around who might've been trying to sneak up on me, I looked through the windows to make sure nobody else would be able to see any of it. Good, it was far enough under that nobody could possibly see it. Perfect. I'll admit, after the last couple days I had been through, now I felt completely naked without my rifle with me, but I just kept reminding myself that in times like this, necessary sacrifices had to be made.

Now it was time for me to leave. I made my way back through the door, almost running back the way I came, looking every single which way to see if anybody was around. That was the only remaining obstacle. There weren't any other doors to anywhere else in the mansion here, so if someone were to spot me, it would only be natural for them to assume I was coming back from the garage, and if that happened, then my whole damn plan was shot.

The few minutes it took me to get back to the main hall felt like the longest minutes of my life, almost literally having to look over my shoulder with every step to make sure nobody saw me. It was like I was living every childs dream of being a secret agent, only this was the closest thing to a nightmare. But soon I was back in the main hall, and for all I knew then, I was finally in the clear. For all I knew, Fritjof might've also went to tell all the others so they could find their own hiding spots as well. If that was the case, then I could finally have a moment to just finally get some peace and quiet.

As I had gone through these thoughts, I was making my way up the stairs back to our hall, anxious to claim which room would be mine and I could just let all that had happened to us today just finally go away, despite how impossible it seemed to let go of very nearly dying only a few hours ago. Even now, I still can't believe that it had only taken those few hours for me to have almost completely forgotten just how close we had all gotten to getting killed, and how easily we had been able to cope with our sudden surroundings. Albeit, we still had Ditlev to remind us of just where we had come from, but it was rather surprising to see how easily everyone else had adjusted to suddenly not having to fight anymore that day. Me personally, I was more than determined to not forget about what was just outside those walls, and if I had felt like taking the initiative, I would've seen to it that the others wouldn't forget either. It doesn't take a lot to prove to you that we had come way too close that morning, and I was going to make sure we didn't let something like that catch up with us again, I was going to make sure we would be more well-equipped and prepared.

Besides Bjarte, judging from what I had seen when we first came here, the only one of us that wasn't looking to just forget everything that had just happened and take it easy here was that Takagi girl. Something told me that if I wanted to think up a future plan for when we're ready to get out of here, I would need to talk with her. Easier said than done, I know that much. Just as that idea had come and gone, I turned the corner into the hall only to be met with nearly colliding into another person, just because I had been too busy keeping my eyes glued to the floor, dwelling on ideas that would possibly never come to fruition, knowing the luck we'd had so far. Before I was able to just quickly make my escape before the angry shouting started, I felt a strong and steady hand grab onto the sleeve of my shirt; but instead of the angry Japanese shouting I was expecting, instead I was greeted with that soothing yet stern female voice speaking nearly flawless Finnish. "**No, hei taas. Ja juuri kun olet menossa niin kiire?**" _(F: Well, hello again. And just where are you heading to in such a hurry?)_

I could all too clearly hear the suspicion laced around her words, and I didn't dare look back at her over my shoulder. I just had a lingering feeling in the pit of my stomach that my plan was now officially shot. I had spent so much time making sure nobody saw me to begin with that I moved in a hurried pace, and that was all it took to show that I was hiding something. **Perkele**.

_aaa_

Nightfall. It still amazes me sometimes how quickly time can go past you when you're actually in a pleasant state of mind. It couldn't have been any later than noon when we had been rescued, and it still felt like it had only been a couple hours before night had come. Perhaps it was because winter was just around the corner, I don't even remember anymore. All I know is that by the time I had finally managed to just let all the concerns I had before just disappear into the back of my mind, the skies were nearly black. At least in the meantime, I had managed to get a much better feel for the place. Although, while I was at least able to finally calm my nerves after so long, a feeling that had been scratching at the back of my head wouldn't go away no matter where I went. I couldn't shake the feeling that at multiple spots around the compound, I was being watched. I didn't know if that was really the case or not, if I really was being followed, or I was just paranoid after having spent so much time out there beyond the gates. Nevertheless, I didn't want to end up regretting ignoring this feeling, so I ended up spending the rest of my time out on the grounds constantly looking over my shoulder. So I might not have been able to put my mind completely at ease, but the time spent out there was still something I had really needed.

By the time I was back inside the main hall of the mansion, a lot of the hustle and bustle of the compound had actually come to a stop. There were still guards roaming everywhere outside, but a lot of the civilians I had seen throughout the day were back in their tents, and I hadn't seen any of the others at all since I had left the medical tent. As exhausted as I had become by that point, I figured I would check on everybody and see how they were holding up before hitting the sack myself.

Before I was about to head back up the stairs, I suddenly caught the faint sound of something falling against the floor. It sounded like it had come from the hall to the right. I knew for a fact that none of Them could've gotten into the compound without any of the guards or anyone else noticing, but there was still a part of me that got extremely paranoid when I caught slight sounds in the dark. It's ridiculous I know, but that doesn't make it unjustified.

As I made my way down the hall, I suddenly heard the sound multiple objects collapsing on the floor. Dammit, now I wish I had at least something at all at hand so I could defend myself. As I was about to round the corner to where that sound had come from, I was suddenly met with a startled gasp from someone I hadn't yet seen, nearly causing me to leap back halfway across the hall in shock. "Bjarte-kun, you startled me." I had suddenly heard Saeko say before I was able to do anything else.

Looking back at her as I got back on my feet, I instantly noticed that she had an unconscious Fritjof with one arm over her shoulders. "Yeah, sorry about that. I heard a noise over here, and for a second, I actually thought one of Them was in here." I quickly lied with a nervous grin as she just smiled back at me, beginning to walk back down the way I came, pretty much forcing me to follow her. "Yes, I accidentally made that noise, so I'm sorry if I frightened you. I had been wondering where Fritjof-kun was as everyone else had already started retiring to their rooms. I found him sleeping in the library with a copy of _Great Expectations _draped over his face. When I pulled him up, I accidentally knocked over a pile of books he had near him, that's all."

I just gave a light little laugh as a response. I had nearly forgotten just how much Fritjof loved reading books, whether they be fiction or not. It was one of the things he loved almost as much as computers, and if you knew him as well as I had, that would be saying something. "Yeah, I'd been exploring the compound all day, and I haven't seen any of the others once, so I was just about to go check and see how everybody was doing before retiring myself." I replied as we both made our way back up the stairs. Saeko gave a quiet little laugh, keeping mostly to herself as I stopped at the very first door. "I must admit, Bjarte-kun, it really is a reassuring sight to see you show that kind of concern for everyone's well-being, whether it be of the body or the mind. Although, I honestly don't think you'll have to worry about anyone waking up in the middle of the night, delusional and violent or not."

I still don't think Saeko had meant any malice in that choice of words, but regardless, those words still struck a major chord with me, something that I had been desperately trying to ignore all day since we had gotten here. Had she been implying that I would eventually snap like I had back at the fence? Completely delusional and ready to kill absolutely anything that moved regardless of whether they were Them or not? Was she mocking me? Calling me weak? Suggesting I didn't have what it took to survive out there? That I was a bigger danger to everyone than even Them?

I still don't know whether she even realized the extent to which her words had affected me, no matter how well I had been trying to hide it. Before I could've even asked, she was already about to disappear behind a door of her own, before she stopped and looked back at me. "Bjarte-kun?" I still had so many of these suspicions and questions burning away at my mind when she had called my name, but I had tried to keep my calm demeanor for just a few seconds more as I was now anxious to hear what she had to throw at me next. "Yes?"

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between Saeko and I for a few seconds, and I'm not sure if it was just the lack of light that was playing games with my eyes, but I thought that for a second, I saw Saeko's cool and collected shell break for a second as she actually looked away from me nervously before she recollected herself and said what she had no doubt been meaning to for a while now.

"I just wanted to apologize for last night." she had started quietly, and at first I actually had no idea what she had meant, but she had decided to keep going by the time I had actually remembered what she was talking about. "When we were still in that house, and I was trying to tell you all of what we would need to do in order to survive. I struck you when you had argued with me, and I realize that I shouldn't have acted so harshly..."

As I listened to her go on like this, I'll admit, I still had some resentment for that and I was glad to hear her apologizing for it; but at the same time, I couldn't bear to hear someone like Saeko practically beat herself down with words for her own actions which were, in all circumstances, actually justified. "It's alright, Saeko. You don't have to apologize for that. The fact is that, at that time, you were right to do what you did. You simply had the best interests of our group at heart when you told us to ignore the people that were out there, and I was acting irrational, and you did what any competent leader would do when facing an unstable partner in a desperate situation. I appreciate what you're trying to say now, but just know that I don't hold any resentment for what you had to do, and if it makes you feel any better, I forgive you."

For a minute, Saeko didn't say anything to me, she just stared at me with a look that I could only describe as a mild form of surprise. At first, I actually had started to think I had said something she didn't want to hear, but when I myself was about to apologize, I had heard her quietly laugh to herself, and it was rather comforting to see her smiling again. "I'm happy to hear that, Bjarte-kun." I just made a weak attempt to laugh with her now that we had come to this unusual understanding, and soon it was back to that awkward silence again. "So, I guess I'll see you and everyone else in the morning."

Saeko gave a single nod in response before she finally disappeared from my sight, and all that sounded was the shutting of the door, leaving me all alone in the hall once again. Now all that was left for me to do was just check on everybody else, and then I could finally get a good night's sleep. I was so exhausted at this point, I felt I should've just left it to faith that everyone was fine and just called it quits right there; but a pesky little piece in the back of my mind kept telling me that I needed to take it upon myself to just keep a watchful eye over all of them, that it was my responsibility. I don't know why I decided to listen to that little voice in my head, but nevertheless, I did, and what was done was done.

Opening the door I had stopped at, it reminded me too late that this was the room I had been keeping Rei and Takashi in. I had already accidentally shut the door rather loudly, and through the dark, I could hear Rei stir out of whatever sleep she could've been lucky enough to have. "Takashi? Is that you?" I heard her ask tiredly, and I just snickered to myself as I carefully made my way towards her through the dark. "No, it's just me. Isn't Takashi still here with you?" I asked in a tone just above a whisper as I felt for the chair I had last placed next to her bed.

"Takashi left almost an hour ago once it got dark. He said he felt that I would be able to get some sleep easier if I was alone." she explained in an annoyed manner once I had found my spot and managed to get myself seated. "Well, were you able to? I mean, we've all had a very long day, and you definitely deserved it after what you've already been through." I whispered to her, my eyes slowly but steadily adjusting to the near pitch blackness. "Well, you just woke me up, didn't you?" she whispered back to me, and I could clearly feel the attempted sarcasm she had been directing towards me, causing me to smile to myself just for a second. It always did embarrass me, much like anyone else, when I unintentionally asked stupid questions.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, by the way. I just wanted to check and see how everybody was doing before I went to sleep myself. So how are you feeling now?" I asked her as I leaned back in my chair, stretching out my legs with an exhausted yawn. "Well, my back is completely numb now, but it's better than earlier." she answered, and judging by her tone, I'm sure she was probably smiling now that the pain was gone. "Well, I did the best I could on such short notice." I said with a shrug as I just looked over to the glass doors that lined the opposite end of the room, leading out to a balcony that overlooked the entire front of the compound, and the whole sight was illuminated by the light of the full moon.

"I'm just glad that the pain is gone for now. How did you know that that was even going to work?" I heard her ask although her voice was partially muffled by her pillow. Once more, I was set upon by memories of my family back home, and even though it once again brought back my fears for their safety, I tried to hide my worry and rather focused on the positives; the childhood memories. "My aunt used to work as a masseuse at the hotel my mom works at. After that, she worked as a physical therapist at a hospital. I spent a lot of time with her and my uncle, and some of those aspects of her work just rubbed off on me, I guess." I explained to her, making a rather weak attempt at coming across as modest.

For a few minutes, Rei didn't say anything in response. At first, I had thought that she had fallen asleep again, and I was about to make my way back to the door again, but then I heard the rustling of her sheets again. "Bjarte-san, please don't go yet. There's something I want to talk to you about." I just collapsed back into my seat with an exhausted sigh as I looked over to her, slowly closing my eyes. "Fair enough. I'm sure I could stay awake long enough. So what is it?"

"It's about what happened with you this morning at that fence." My eyes were wide open once those words escaped her lips. My heart had immediately starting racing as I began to wonder just what she could possibly have to say about this. Was she also going to imply that I might be crazy? That I'm too dangerous for her and the others to be around? Before I could think into it any further, she kept going. "When you got grabbed by one of Them, and you were beating it to death, I don't know what you were saying, but you seemed like a completely different person. You just kept beating what was left of it until it was reduced to mush, and you kept screaming, and you sounded completely insane." By this point as she kept talking, I heard her voice begin to tremble, and that alone simply amplified my fears of where this could be going.

"When I caught a glimpse of your face...your eyes looked almost inhuman. Bjarte-san...y-you actually scared me. I..." I already had a gut feeling on what she was about to say, and although she had every right to feel this way after what I had done, I just couldn't bear to hear the words come from her. It would've just been too much for me to handle. So I decided to just finish for her. "You're afraid of me now, aren't you? You're not the only one, Rei. I'm actually scared of myself too. When it all happened...it's like I had absolutely no control over myself. It was like I was out of my own body, and while I knew what I was doing, there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it until it was all over."

As I had said this, the image of my greatest fear came to the front of my mind, the thing that scared me more than anything I had encountered and imagined thus far. I couldn't keep this hidden from her. I needed to express my deepest concern, get it out in the open. I don't know what I was hoping to accomplish by revealing it. It just felt like the best thing to do. "What scares me the most right now, Rei...the thing that scares me more than anything we've run into up to this point...it's not that I could end up like that again when fighting against Them, that's not it. What scares me the most now is...that I might end up like that again, and there'd nobody else there but you and the others. What if I were to end up like all those U.S. Soldiers from Vietnam that go into a violent psychotic rage without any warning? What if that were to happen to me? I could end up killing someone...killing another survivor. Killing one of us!"

I could feel my hair stand on end and my heart pound at my chest as I said all this to her. I was finally coming to grips with what could've become a very real threat to our continued survival out there, and that threat could've been me. I could hear Rei was about to say something else, but there was so much coming to mind now, I needed to get it all out here and now. "Hold on, Rei. There is a lot that I have to say, so right now, I'm going to talk, and I just want you to listen, alright? Just the very thought of one day killing someone makes me scared to just look in the mirror now. I know it only happened once, but these kind of things don't just happen once and then that's it. It could come again. There are people that could be strong enough to accept that they might have to kill someone if a situation calls for it, but I'm not one of those people. None of us are. I know Alpi had to kill someone in order to save your life, but he told me...he told me how that feeling of knowing he took someone else's life...it's been tearing at him non-stop since then." I continued to lament as I buried my face in my hands.

This was just too much for me to take. Up until then, I felt I had the capability to help protect everyone around me; but now, for all I knew, I was now the biggest threat they had on their hands. One of the biggest signs of this that really got to me when I had realized it, was that over the last couple times we had encountered Them...I wasn't as scared of Them as I had been the first time. That idea alone scared the hell out of me. Was I becoming detached from the rational people here? Hell if I knew the answer to that. It was all just too much. Just thinking all these things convinced me to say something to her I had been deeply hoping I wouldn't have had to.

"Rei...I don't want to have to leave you all and go out on my own. I really don't. But at the same time, I don't want to pose a threat to any of you even more. That's why...I want to ask a favor of you when we go back out there again." With this, I rose up from my chair and slowly made my way out to the glass doors that led out to the balcony. I looked out at the pitch black cityscape along the horizon as I took another deep breath, about to say something I never thought I would. "If, for whatever reason, I do end up going crazy...and you or anyone else is absolutely certain that I'm a threat to our continued survival...I want you to see to it that I'm taken care of." I was met with complete silence, although I could already just imagine the look she must've had on her face at that moment, if she already got what I was insinuating: shock, and horror.

"People go crazy, they lose focus...and out there, you lose focus and you're as good as dead. If that happens to me...if I get bitten, or if I try to kill any one of us, I want you to kill me." Sure, at this point, I'm sure you may be agreeing with the verbal thrashing Takashi had given me earlier that morning, how I was throwing away the lives of my possible-living family so easily, but no matter how I could be able to explain my reasoning, you just wouldn't understand. None of them would. If I completely lost it out there, then what would even be the point of trying to make it back home? I'll have just become something even more dangerous than Them. I'd simply become someone that could barely even be called human.

I heard the sound of the sheets practically being kicked away, followed by the nearly muted sound of footsteps approaching me from behind, and when I turned back to face her, it wasn't the fact that she was only dressed in her panties that got me; it was the burning, stinging sensation of her palm furiously striking me across the face that left me the one who was completely speechless. I just looked at her in shock as I clutched onto the right half of my face, the whole damn thing tingling and burning. The look on her face, I honestly couldn't tell if it was more anger or sadness, or some frightening mixture of both.

"You idiot! You selfish idiot! Don't you ever say that again! Don't say that again! You idiot." she cried out angrily, tears welling in her eyes, and I just didn't have the heart to tell her to keep it at a whisper for everyone else's sake. I just stood there dumbfounded, listening to her as she kept calling me an idiot, eventually just breaking down into sobs before taking a step towards me, leaning her head into my chest, weakly punching me in the chest. Eventually, she just stopped altogether and just grabbed onto my shoulders, and then all I could do was wrap my arms around her waist and hold her close to me, ignoring the wet feeling from her tears staining my shirt.

"Why? Why do you keep doing this? The second time...the second time you throw your life away like this! Why are you so intent on dying? Why? Just tell me why..." she sobbed into my chest as I tried to think of just what to say to her. Neither she nor the others would completely understand, but I still felt she at least deserved to know my reasoning behind it all. "Rei...please believe me when I say that I don't make these decisions lightly. I just...I just can't shake this feeling in my gut that the way things have been going for us, things are only going to get a lot worse before they get any better. I'm only trying to help prepare myself for the worst things that could happen. I want to do whatever I must to prepare the rest of you as well." I explained to her as I just closed my eyes and began running all the negative ideas I had come to have of what lay on the road ahead.

"But why do you insist on thinking things can only get worse? Can't you just accept the fact that at least right now we're alive? I hate seeing you act like this...I hate hearing you talk about having us kill you if things get worse. I hate seeing you this vulnerable and scared..." she had continued to cry into my shirt, her grip on my shoulders tightening with each word, and it just killed me to think that I caused her this much pain; but understand that what I had asked of her, I had only been thinking in the entire group's best interest should things have gotten as bad as I was fearing. I couldn't stand to listen to Rei weeping like this, but I just didn't know what I could've said to her.

"Rei...I'm sorry. Trust me, I do want to try and remain as optimistic as I can be with all of you. I-I just don't know why I can't. It's like everytime something remotely good happens to us, something incomprehensibly bad happens to us right afterwards. I just can't bring myself to let my guard down with anything here anymore. Not even myself." This was all I could bring myself to say to her, but there wasn't a single sign that this comforted her in any way. In fact, it seemed to make her feel even worse.

"Bjarte...stop it. Please...just stop." I barely heard her whisper before she took her head off my chest and looked up at me, her face still wet from her tears, although she had stopped crying by this point. "I don't want to hear any more of this. This isn't like the Bjarte I knew before at all." To my surprise, she now sounded less saddened, and this time, more determined than anything else, not even angry. "Over the past three months, you were always optimistic, always happy, and you always gave off an air of confidence. Now...now you're someone who chooses to be cynical, constantly depressed. Someone who doesn't even realize anymore what value his life still has! I want the old Bjarte back!"

Those last words had taken me by surprise, even moreso than the fact that she had suddenly just started referring me to me so informally, something I thought never would've happened. I had been expecting her to bring up this turn for the worse my attitude had taken, but now I was even more interested in what she meant by my life having value. "Rei, why are you telling me all this now? I thought you said yourself that what I had done..." Before I could even finish my thoughts, she suddenly cut me off with a further explanation that had thrown at least some of my previous fears out the window.

"I know, I said that what you did back there had scared me. But you never let me finish what I was trying to say. I wasn't ever going to say I'm afraid of you. I was going to say that I'm afraid for you. I don't want to see you become something you're not. I don't want to see you become some detached, deranged killer." If there had ever been a time in the past I had wanted to slap myself in the face, it was now. She was completely right, I was going on a rant, and I never allowed her to express her full train of thought, and I just ended up causing myself a whole ton of unneeded and unnecessary grief. **Jeg kan ikke tro hva en tosk jeg kan være noen ganger.** _(N: I can't believe what a fool I can be sometimes.)_

''That's why...that's why I'm promising you now, I'm going to do whatever I can to stop such a thing from happening to you or anyone else.'' When she muttered those words, I had absolutely no idea what to think or say to her. ''What do you mean? What could you or anybody else be able to do to stop me or someone else from going insane? It's not like you have control over another person's mental stability.'' I uttered in response as I sat down on the edge of her bed, returning my gaze back to the windows. When I felt her put her hand over mine, all I could bring myself to do was just close my eyes and listen to whatever answer she could've possibly had. ''I don't know exactly what I'll be able to do when the time comes, Bjarte, if it ever will at all. I just want you to know that I'll do whatever I think is best to keep you and the others from losing it out there if that becomes a possible situation.''

I didn't want to show her that her answer wasn't exactly brightening my spirits, but nevertheless, it wasn't the answer I was hoping for. Yet, I at least decided that I would just have to live with that. It wasn't the answer I was looking for, but I knew that her heart was in the right place with what she had told me, and in the end, that was all that really mattered. Neither of us may have really known just what she could do, if anything at all, if one of our group was to show signs of cracking, but it was the fact that she would at least try her best to prevent it that really meant anything now.

''Thank you, Rei. It really means a lot to me to hear you say these things. I may not show it directly, but it really does make me feel much better.'' These were the only things I could think to say to her after an unbearably long awkward silence had hung between us. While I partially meant what I had said, I figured it would do her good to at least think that her idea would completely work. There are just some problems you can't fix with just words, no matter the good intentions behind them. After getting back on my feet, it took me an embarrassing couple of minutes to get Rei situated back onto her stomach, while trying to ignore the temptations of hands controlled by partially repressed lewd thoughts.

Once I was sure she was comfortable, I began to make my way back out the door into the hall. "When morning comes, I'm gonna ask Marikawa-sensei if there's anything she can do to treat you. I've done all I can already." Before I was able to go any further, I felt her hand grab onto my wrist. When I was about to ask what else she could've possibly had to say to me that night, she said something that I honestly would have never expected in my entire life to hear, especially from her.

"Bjarte-san...do you think you could...stay here with me tonight?" I heard her ask in the faintest whisper, and I could only just stand there and look at her, completely dumbfounded, completely speechless. This time I felt I was hearing things for sure, so I asked her what she had just said, and she said the exact same thing, and she didn't sound any less discouraged to do so than before. I honestly could not believe what was happening. I was actually being asked by one of the girls I had come to hold the closest to my heart in what was generally the shortest amount of time, to keep her company for the night. However, as thrilled as I was inside, I still wasn't without my morals.

"I-I don't think that that's a very good idea Rei. I mean, I could go and see if Takashi wouldn't mind looking out for you, if that's alright with you." I muttered nervously as I tried to imagine just what could've happened if I were to have said 'yes', and then Takashi were to have caught us. The resulting images weren't pretty, I can say that much for certain. Rei's grip on my wrist grew surprisingly tighter, forcing me to bring my attention back to her as she gave me her answer. "Bjarte-san...please...don't ask Takashi...I want you to be here with me...I just want you here..." she had been saying through the tears I could hear all too clearly. Listening to this, I could only just bow my head with a sigh as I placed my free hand over the one she had been holding me with.

"Alright. I'll stay here with you tonight." I didn't want to say anymore in the fear that I would've crossed some invisible line with her, and a little more stress on top of everything else was the very last thing I needed. I still thought it was a really bad idea, but if Rei really wanted me of all people to be with her through the night, then who was I to deprive her of that? Getting back into my chair, I leaned back, my eyes glued to the ceiling. I figured I could be able to handle sleeping like this for one night, and that's just what I was about to finally do when I heard her whisper to me once again. I didn't completely catch it as I had been slipping into unconsciousness, so once again I asked her to repeat herself. Back then, I had thought it was one of the worst choices I could've ever made. Now...I personally think it was one of the best.

With her voice only partially muffled through the pillows, she asked: "Bjarte-san, aren't you going to lie here with me?" At first I thought I had been dreaming, but that idea vanished pretty quickly once I had done the classic old trick of pinching myself to no avail. As unbelievable a question as it was to ask in general, I just couldn't get over the fact that from what I was able to judge by the tone in her voice, she was being completely one-hundred-percent serious at that moment. As much as I desperately wanted to say 'yes', I still had to put my foot down for real that time.

"I'm sorry, Rei...but that is a bad idea among bad ideas. If Takashi were to see such a thing...I don't even want to think of what he might do." I responded in a pathetic mumble as I desperately tried to bring my attention to something else, anything else. This was just getting way too awkward for me to completely handle rationally. I just couldn't believe what was happening right then. One minute, I was lamenting about how I was possibly cracking, the next minute Rei is telling me how she wants to take responsibility for the psychological well-being of everyone in our group, and then the next minute she's beckoning me to join her...in bed, no less.

Before I could continue thinking back on just how this had suddenly happened, I felt her hand on mine once again. Damn it all, every time I felt her touch, I just completely lost all perspective and was like butter. "Bjarte-san, I'm not asking any more of you than what I'm saying now. I just don't want to be alone tonight, and to be honest...I'd feel much more comfortable with you here than Takashi right now. Please?"

Whenever I heard her speak to me like this, I just couldn't bring myself to say 'no'. Although, I'm not sure anymore if there ever was a time before that night she said anything to me like that. Sighing in defeat, I told her I would do like she asked, but before I did, there was something that I now really needed to know, and I wasn't going to wait until dawn for an answer. The behavior she had been exhibiting towards me for the last several minutes, I felt needed to be addressed. Not just then, but the events on the previous night in the Humvee as well. I just couldn't hold back the suspicions I had been developing anymore.

"Rei, before I get in there with you, there's something I really want to know, and I want the answer tonight." Taking a deep breath, I got ready to ask what was one of the most uncomfortable questions I could've ever come up with.

"Rei...I like to think at this point, that I understand the relationship that you and Takashi have had since I first came to this country. I don't mean to pry, but I don't think I would be wrong if I were to guess that Takashi has feelings for you. Feelings of a more...romantic type. Now feel free to stop me if I'm wrong here, but I couldn't help but notice on a few occasions in the past that you seem to either look at Takashi, or talk to him in a way that would reflect...well, similar feelings. Suppressed feelings, but still there nonetheless. Now, I felt that I had that entire thing completely figured out for a while. At least, I thought I had it all understood...until last night." This was it, now there wasn't any turning back available to me even if I had wanted to do so at all.

"Last night, everything I thought I understood about the two of you was completely thrown out of allignment when...well, you know what happened. It's been relentlessly clawing at my mind nonstop since then, despite appearances. You told me just why you acted the way you did, as a form of gratitude. But I just can't help but feel that there was so much more behind it than that. Just the way it all happened, the look in your eyes, the sound of your voice, everything felt like it was expressing so much more than simply gratitude. I don't want to just assume anything, but I just can't stop thinking it over, again and again and again..." I was getting so tired of just trying to avoid the point I had been wanting to make, but I just couldn't think of an easy way to get it out. It didn't matter, I was done wasting both our time. I wanted to finally put those damned confused feelings I had been feeling since then to rest, and this was the only way I felt I could do that.

"All I want to know is this, Rei. Just what exactly are your feelings for Takashi? Just answer me that, please." There, I had finally gotten it out, and there was no taking it back. My heart had now felt a thousand pounds heavier, and all there was now was that unbearable silence once again. As much as I had been desperate for an answer that would give me some kind of closure for even the shortest amount of time, I wanted nothing more at that moment than to take back those words. It just felt terrible to have to put Rei on the spot like I had just done, but unfortunately, what was done was done.

"Well...I guess the best way to describe it would be that I love him." she had only then just begun, but to me, that was all I needed to hear. That was all I wanted to hear. The truth was finally out in the open, and I could finally just decide to move on, no matter how much it killed me to have heard those words just then. I was about to just get up and leave so I could get a few moments to myself to let the overall impact wear off, but then I felt her grab onto my sleeve once again, and as shocking as it is to hear myself say this; but if she hadn't immediately spoken up then, I feel I would've probably stricken her to let me go. I can just thank both our lucky stars that it didn't come to that.

"But I feel like I only love him as much as I do everyone else in our group." she had continued to go on, and I could already feel my spirits brightening little by little with each passing word. "I don't feel any more or less for him than I do for you or any of the others. In such a short time, everyone has already come to mean so much to me in one way or another, that it just doesn't seem right to care more about one person over another."

Listening and hanging on every word, I had then come to realize the truth to her words, and just how foolish I had been to think otherwise. In our situation, we had to rely on each other in order to survive, and this was the worst possible time to even consider the idea that we were going to be playing favorites amongst each other. At least in the end, I had managed to get some peace of mind, and I no longer had to worry about keeping my emotions getting the better of me...at least I was hoping that was going to stay the case. Either way, at least things could go back to the way they used to be amongst the three of us.

"Thank you, Rei. That's all I wanted to know. **Takk. **_(N: Thank you)_" I muttered weakly as I quickly wiped a single biting tear from my eye, hoping she hadn't noticed. "Are you sure you still want me here tonight? Absolutely sure?" I asked as I began to make my way around to the empty spot beside her. "Bjarte-san, if I felt any differently from before, I would tell you. Believe me, I wouldn't be as comfortable with anybody else right now." she whispered back to me in what I swear was a thinly veiled playful tone. Figuring that any other options I could've had for that night were officially gone forever, I gave a heavy sigh as I slowly got myself settled beside her, and while it felt good to get back into a real bed for the first time in what felt like ages, I don't have to tell you that I was still extremely uncomfortable where I now had been.

I figured if I were to just close my eyes and just think of something else, I could finally be able to get some real sleep. If only it were that easy. At the last minute, more questions I had been dwelling over had decided to emerge, questions that I once again felt I needed to know as soon as possible. "Rei? There's one more thing I want to ask you." I whispered as I stared up at the ceiling. "What is it, Bjarte-san?" she asked as I felt her shift about beside me before I felt her hand softly grab onto mine.

Sighing heavily, I got ready to ask another of the most uncomfortable questions I could've ever come up with. "I just can't help but wonder, but...why...why is it that you say you prefer me being here? Why me of all people, and not anybody else? I mean, in the grand scheme of things, we still basically just barely know each other. Personally, I think it would make more sense if..." before I was able to continue, I felt her finger against my lips again, effectively silencing me once more. For a minute, there was just dead silence before I felt her shift slightly again, and then I felt her arms wrap themselves around me under my arms, and then she rested her head against my chest before speaking out in just barely a whisper.

"Bjarte-san...I honestly can't think of any single reason of why I feel this way. I just do." she had begun, and it was several more uncomfortable seconds of silence before she continued. "Things haven't always been so great between me and Takashi...for quite a while now, actually, since before you came here. We'd been best friends since early childhood, but as we got older, we just began to grow more distant. Whenever I did try to communicate with him, he always seemed to have things of his own on his mind, and he would never even attempt to try and talk to me, he would just always keep himself so distanced from me." By this point, she had begun quietly sobbing, and judging by what she had gone on to tell me, she had every reason to.

"I know these kind of things had a tendency to happen, but it just felt so much worse when it happened between us. As much as I still liked him, I just couldn't handle the way things had become between us anymore. That's why I had started dating Hisashi, in the hopes that I could've been able to forget about it and move on." Just as I had the previous night, I was about ready to tell Rei that it was for the best that she forget about Hisashi, lest she simply drive herself into the ground with sorrow, but she had decided to keep going, and it just didn't feel right to cut her off as she was opening up to me like this.

"Unfortunately, I just couldn't move on from the past so easily. Takashi was always there every day, and it was when I had started dating Hisashi that he now wanted to keep me close, but it was already too late. I knew how much it tore at him to see us together, and it always made me feel terrible. Every day only seemed to get worse and worse as time went on. But then...then you showed up." With this, I could feel my entire face burning up, and if it were possible, it probably would be glowing red as well. Judging by just how close I could tell her voice was, at that point, her face must've only been about an inch or two from mine, and I could only hope she wouldn't notice how uncomfortably stiff my whole body had gone at that moment.

"Whenever you were around, you were always smiling, always happy, and you always tried to get along with anyone you talked to. If you ever thought one of us was feeling bad, you always did what you thought was best, you always tried to make us smile. Even when there was nothing you could do, you were always there to at least listen. Bjarte-san..." I swear to you now, when she muttered my name like that, if I hadn't known better, I could've sworn she was about to confess her love to me, or something along those lines. I honestly did not know what to expect, and that is one of the things that scares me more than anything nowadays, is when I don't know what's going to happen. Hopefully you can understand why. "...you always tried to make the people around you happy, even when you didn't know them well at all. Even now, deep down you're still well meaning and trying to help those around you...and that's one of the things I love about you. You're one of the most kindhearted people I've ever met…and in some way or another, I'm always reminded just how lucky we all are to have you with us. How lucky I am to have you with me, even now."

I was completely and utterly speechless by this point. I would've thought that I'd be desensitized to the kind of feelings that I felt were being poured out at that moment, especially after what had happened in the Humvee the previous night, but I've been wrong before. Still, I just couldn't believe what she was saying to me, more and more it sounded like she was trying to confess love more than anything else; and while part of me was hoping I was wrong, the rest of me was hoping I was right. Well, so much for my emotions no longer getting the better of me, I suppose.

As she continued this seemingly nonstop outpouring of what felt like repressed feelings to me, I had finally managed to get some control over myself again, and I had become so taken in by her words, all I could bring myself to do was bring my arms around her waist and hold her closer to me, and when she had given a slight gasp in surprise, I had begun to fear that I had gone too far. Instead, I was met with her slightly tightening her hold on me, laying her head on my shoulder, and her nearly naked body completely pressing up against me. Luckily, I managed to swallow the lump in my throat, trying to ignore the burning heat that was flowing through my whole body as I kept listening to the last of her words.

"I always feel like I can talk to you much easier than anyone else, and I'm happy whenever I'm around you, even if sometimes it may not seem like it. I've come to love all the people in our group, no more or less than you or Takashi, and I don't love either of you any more or less than the rest of them. That's not what I'm trying to say. All I'm saying is that for a while now, even long before all of…this, started happening, you were one of the few people I've felt the safest with, and that I've felt the most at peace with. In such a short time, you've come to be one of the best friends I could've ever asked for, and considering how things were before you were around…well, those are all the reasons I can think of as to why I want you here with me right now. That's all…" she had proceeded to lower into a barely noticeable whisper as I felt her body loosen up against me, signifying to me that in those last few moments, she had finally fallen asleep, and this nearly overwhelming discussion between us that had come to bring many of my older questions to rest, was finally at an end.

As glad as I was that my older questions would never be able to bother me again, and that I could finally get some real sleep for the first time in days, I still just couldn't bring myself to just slip off into unconsciousness, and this time I had no idea as to why. Whatever it could've been, it most likely wasn't anything terribly important, because within several minutes, I was finally just on the verge. Before I was finally able to nod off, however, I could just barely hear Rei's whisper once more, and now I was too tired to even groan in aggravation in response.

"I'm sorry, Bjarte-san, but I just have one question of my own. Just one, I promise." Before I had even gotten the chance to ask her what it was, it was out of her lips, and hanging heavy in the air between us like the morning fog on the harbors back home. "Earlier today at the fence, just before we got rescued, you had grabbed my hand, and when I looked at you, it looked like you were about to say something, and I just remembered that you never got the chance to finish it. Maybe now that we aren't all on the verge of dying, you can finish now."

I felt the most unbearable chill creep up my spine as she said these words. I had completely forgotten what I had intended to tell her that afternoon, at least until she had then brought it up. The only reason I had intended to say what I had been meaning to, was simply because I was almost certain we were all going to die, and they do say people will do crazy things when they feel like they're going to die. Now, it just did not feel like the right thing to say, no matter how strongly I felt those very same words inside me at that very moment. I just couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth, I needed to cover it up, hopefully just for that night. I just hoped she wouldn't get suspicious of me at that time.

"I don't know what to tell you, Rei. I never did any such thing. Yes, I did grab your hand, but I never said anything. I mean, there was a lot of gunfire going on at the time, so it's only natural that you think you might've heard something amongst it all. And as for what you think you might've seen, I'm almost certain that it was just all the trauma combined with the stress playing tricks on your eyes. It is known to happen to people who experience almost certain-death situations like we did. I'm sorry, Rei, but I'm afraid the things you thought I was doing, never really happened."

It felt like I was stabbing myself in the heart when I had to lie right to her face, but at that time, it was the only idea that came to mind that seemed like a good one. It was several long, painful seconds of silence between us once I had finished talking, and I felt almost certain that she knew I was lying, and was going to force me to have to reveal the all-too personal truth right then and there. "That does make a lot of sense when you think about it. I had been thinking about whether or not I was just hallucinating the whole thing for a little while, and now it seems the most likely that I was. Oh well." She had then answered before she laid her head back down, softly leaning forward into my chest, and it was back to that persistent silence.

I honestly couldn't believe that my lie had worked. I still felt terrible about it, but at that moment, the only thing I cared about was that all the current little problems there had been over the last hour between us had finally been cleared up, and now I was finally able to get some real sleep…and with the one girl I had come to hold the closest to my heart as well. The girl that I had then come to finally recognize to myself, as the one girl…that I loved.

The only thing that still scratched at the back of my mind was whether or not she really DID believe me. There were times when she showed some pretty impressive intelligence, as well as a bit of cunning in the past, and that was why I had begun to fear she wouldn't ever believe me. But oh well, at least for now, I could just pretend that all things were now good for the lot of us.

Or, at least I was hoping that was going to be the case for us.

**Alright everybody, after over a month and a half of getting this bastard ready, it's finally finished. Now, a lot like chapter 7 and 9, I'm not completely satisfied with how this turned out, but it still turned out better than I initially was expecting. For those of you that find any kind of problems with this chapter, I would like to take this time to remind you all that I am not all that experienced with writing filler. It's potentially new ground for me, but hopefully this will be the kind of experience that can help make me better at it. You've all come to know the drill by now, read, leave reviews, and recommend to our foreign brothers and friends. Chapter 11 will be much easier and less time-consuming to get out there to you all, so you won't have to worry about that. School had a lot to do with this chapter taking so long as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**


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